


Familial Education

by Zozo0_219



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alwin, Implied Mpreg, Post-Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), Post-Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, Self-Indulgent, ill try to elaborate on that in later chapters, mpred not really mentioned but its the only way to explain the OC's existance, royed, somehow Ed and Al are back in amestris, they're adults now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 17:06:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6762625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zozo0_219/pseuds/Zozo0_219
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Approximately 15 years after Conqueror of Shamballa. Ed and Roy are sent to attend Hogwarts in order to secretly inspect a case of alleged illegal alchemy. Only problem: their daughter was just accepted into the school as well. How will Trisha Mustang-Elric be able to keep hidden the fact that her fellow new "student" and new Alchemy teacher are married? Can she hide the mission from a curious Golden Trio? Will what had originally seemed a simple matter of alchemical breach turn out to be much bigger? Implied!(but rarely ever mentioned)Past!Mpreg. Purely self- indulgent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: this goes partially off of the cannon government system at the end of the 2003 series, where political control was set to a council, so the Fuhrer's absence wouldn't actually have as large scale of an impact on the chain of power.
> 
> PLEASE ALSO NOTE: this fanfic is purely self- indulgent, so screwed logic on some of the plot will have to be excused, because I really just need to get this written or my mind might explode.
> 
> Please excuse any grammatical errors, I wrote this without much sleep!
> 
> Thank you!

Ed sighed and looked helplessly at the teenager's sleeping form, only her pitch-black hair visible in the tangle of cover sand pillows. So it was going to be one of those days, huh?

"Trisha, I've given you five extra minutes, you have to get up."

"But it's Saturday." She mumbled back and buried herself deeper into the comforter. "This has to count as child abuse."

Edward made and exasperated noise. He'd been trying to get his daughter up for at least half and hour. "Don't make me transmute your pillow into water, you know how that ended last time." He warned. "You will make me late for work if you don't get your butt out of bed and get ready for to day."

"UGH, Fine." She said and groggily pulled herself into a half- sitting position. "Why do I have to go to Aunt Winry's anyways? I'm old enough to stay home alone."

"You'd get bored in fifteen minutes. At least with your Aunt and Uncle there will be something to do." Ed explained. "Plus, you can show your alchemy to Alphonse, I bet he'd be impressed."

"… Okay, I'll go."

"It wasn't an option anyways."

"Whatever." Trisha rolled her eyes.

Ed raised an eyebrow at his daughter's sass. "I expect you downstairs in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, okay." She mumbled and all but pushed her father out of the room.

Trisha slumped over to her closet, pulling out whatever was closest, which happened to be a dark purple dress that she had bought over a year ago. Luckily or unluckily, she hadn't had any growth spurts recently so the dress still fit. She tended to wear simpler clothing, as being the daughter of the Fürher and the Fullmetal Alchemist always seemed to draw attention. Her bright golden eyes didn't help much either, as it was such a rare shade for an iris.

Trisha never bothered with makeup, as nobody in the household had any idea how to apply it so she had consequently messed up at every attempt. Plus, the idea of putting on what was basically slimy face paint on never really appealed to her. She wrestled with her tangled mop of black hair until it was brushed out enough to braid down her back. Even braided, the tip of Trisha's hair reached the middle of her waist. The teen knew that the length made it much more messy, but she never had the heart to cut it short.

When she felt content that she looked presentable, Trisha stuffed her feet in a pair of red- soled combat boots (which apparently once belonged to her dad) that she found in a box. The shoes had miraculously fit, so the teen girl decided to add them to her wardrobe.

She was out of her room in ten minutes flat.

Right when she entered the living room, a phone was heard ringing and her Dad's footsteps resounded through the halls towards the machine.

"This is Edward Elric." He said into the said in to the phone and was silent for a few seconds before speaking up again. "Colonel Hawkeye, what's up?"

Silence.

"Yeah… Yeah I'll be there soon. I have to drop of Trisha."… "Yes…yes I understand, Colonel. See you in thirty." The sound of the phone hanging up and being lifted up again hit Trisha's ears. Ed was calling someone else.

"Dad, I thought you said I had to hurry up." She called to him. "You'll be late if you keep calling people."

"One sec Trish." He said back. Then into the receiver, "Hey Winry, change of plans. Trisha is coming to work with me today, I'll see if I can slip by for my checkup sometime tomorrow." The conversation quickly dissolved into an argument, by the end if which Ed was slamming the receiver into the holder.

"C'mon Trish, we'll be late." He huffed as the duo hurried out of the house.

 

 

Trisha walked awkwardly behind Edward down the halls of Central HQ. The militants were casting strange looks to the non- military teenager walking behind the Fullmetal Alchemist. Most knew who she was, but there were still many confused or curious glances thrown as to WHY she was in HQ.

To be honest, Trisha didn't know why she was there either. All her Dad had said was that it was urgent business and Aunt Riza (as Trisha had titled the trigger- happy blonde in her early toddler years) said it involved the teen as well.

After what seemed like eternity, they arrived at the correct office. Inside, Team Mustang was working for once, but of course they were under the gun of a certain irked Colonel Hawkeye. When the duo entered the room everyone stood and saluted, slightly confused looks crossing their expressions.

"Brigadier General, you're late. Good Morning Trisha." Riza said from behind her papers.

"Sorry Colonel. SOMEONE's internal alarm clock was having a default." Ed sent a pointed glance to Trisha, who rolled her eyes.

"What kind of human wakes up at 7:30 on a Saturday anyways?" The teen grumbled and looked pointedly back at her Dad.

"Ah, she's got the classic Elric sass." Havoc murmured to Breda, who snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed hissed angrily at the redhead.

"Nooothiiinng." He drawled.

"He's alluding to your rather _short_ temper, Edward." A voice from behind the inner doorway called.

"Shut it Roy!" Ed yelled back. The room erupted in concealed laughter. Riza calmly shuffled her papers.

"Fürher Mustang has a mission for your Brigadier General Elric, you and Miss Trisha may enter." She said it calmly enough, but the gun loosed from its holster said enough to shut the company up.

"Yes Colonel." Ed said and headed into the inner room where Fürher Roy Mustang sat with his head propped in his hands at the large desk. The one onyx eye not concealed by an eye patch looked at the two who just entered the room.

"'Morning Papa." Trisha greeted her other father as she sat herself down on one of the large couches. "Why'd I have to show up here? It's too early to even be alive, you know." She said.

"Yeah, Roy, you know it's kind of against the rules to bring non-militants into the HQ without official pass, Fürher or not." Ed lectured his amused husband.

"Believe it or not, Edward, the three of us have been put to a mission by the Council." Roy said.

Ed was dumbfounded, "Wha- they can't put Trish on a mission, she isn't milliary."

"Don't worry, Edward, it isn't dangerous. You see, there have been hints of dangerous alchemical use at a school in the island nation the United Kingdom. Our job is to attend said school and search for any trace of it." Roy explained, handing the blonde alchemist a manila file. He flipped through it as the ravenette continued his explanation. "I am attending as a teacher in the subject of alchemy. I needed someone to come along as a guard, so that is where you come in Edward. Technically, the Council isn't leading Trisha, but today I received this letter from the same school addressed to her. For some reason, it ended up at my office rather than at home." He smirked. "You, dearest Fullmetal, will be in disguise as a student."

If Ed had been drinking something he would have spit it out in surprise, "WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK I WOULD PASS AS A STUDENT?" He yelled. The officers on the other side of the door burst out in laughter, but the sound of a gun's safety being clicked off shut them up.

"Lemme see the letter, Papa." Trisha said and walked to the desk where Roy was holding out the note.

"It looks like a scholarly acceptance letter." The Fürher told her. She nodded in response. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Papa, what does it mean 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'?"

_______________________________________


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay yay new chapter! THE WRITING TOWARDS THE END KINDA SUCKS REALLY BAD BUT I WAS TIRED AND WANTED TO FINISH THE FIC ILL FIX IT WHEN I CAN.

"…"

"…"

"A wizard school? As in magic?" Ed asked.

"Yes, Edward. In other parts of the world magic and chemistry developed over alchemy. Amestris is really the only alchemic country around now." Roy explained, opening a file of his own. "Apparently Trisha possesses the ability to perform magic, and has been accepted upon request to attend as a transfer for one year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry alongside our mission. The Council has already organized this with the headmaster."

"But HOW can it be even CONCEIVEABLE? Magic has no equivalency whatsoever!" Ed countered.

"I understand, it really makes no sense. But the Council is in charge of the military and, as the head of said military, it is my duty not to question the minor details of the few missions I am ever assigned. Obviously, the alchemical breach must have been substantial for two of the most highly esteemed State Alchemists to be put to the case. All we have to do is look inconspicuous and find the source of the breach." The Fürher said.

"Ah yes, another great point to bring up, dearest husband. HOW am I supposed to look INCONSPICUOUS as a teenager? I havent been a teenager for a long time!" Ed said back, gesturing to himself.

"but everyone else on the team haven't been teenagers for substantially longer, might I remind you. I'm sorry, really, I am, but there isn't another choice. You are the best fit for the role."

The Fullmetal Alchemist glared at the edge of amusement laced into Roy's voice, "Fine, but you'd better have pretty damn good cover stories prepared, because you know I suck at making those."

Trisha nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that means you two will have to act less… married and… stuff." She honestly doubted they could do that.

"Don't get too smug, young lady. You also have to act like we're not your parents. You address us as Professor Mustang and Ed once we get to the trains on Sunday."

"…Ew that doesn't sound right though. I don't want to have to do that." Trisha said.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice."

\--------

"That sounds exciting Trish!" Winry said when the teen explained the situation to her.

"Aunt Winry, I have to act like I've never met my own parents, AND live by some sort of fake backstory. That's investigative work, I'm not used to that!" She exclaimed form her perch atop the Elric- Rockbell kitchen counter.

"But think about how funny it'll be to watch them try not to act totally PDA around each other." The mechanic chuckled.

"Dear Lord, that'll be impossible for them." Al chimed in, laughing as well.

"You guys are not helping. There are so many things that could, no WILL so wrong with this mission." Trisha said. "Who let the Council put Papa and Dad on a mission together?"  
"Where are Pyromaniac and Shorty anyways? Colonel Riza said they'd left when I tried to call Edward at HQ." Winry asked.

"They went to buy our supplies for the magic school." The teen explained, "Dad should be back pretty soon for a final checkup on his automail. We leave early tomorrow.

"Tomorrow? That's so soon! Why would they inform you this late?" Al said, surprised. Trisha shrugged, "No Idea."

"You'll have to write to us, leave out no details!" Winry told trisha, who nodded, "I know Ed and Roy. Neither of them will tell me or Al anything unless Edward's arm fell off or something."

The three of them shared an understanding silence. The phone ringing next to Trisha broke it. She picked it up and chimed into the receiver, "Central Automail, How may I be of assistance?"

'Trish? This is Dad. Can you tell your Aunt Winry that I'll be coming by for a checkup in about 15 minutes?" Ed said into the phone.

"Sure, see you then." She said back. After a short 'goodbye' from her Dad she hung up.

"That was Dad. He'll be dropping by in about 15." She said to her Aunt.

"Okay, I'll get shop set up." Winry said and lugged her tools into her workroom.

"EDWARD HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY BREAK A GUARDED SPRING A NOT NOTICE?" Winry screeched.

"I noticed that my leg was making a noise but it didn't feel weird!" He yelled back.

"You, young man, are very luck your arm is in perfect condition, or you'd have one hell of a concussion after I'd be done with you." Winry glared at her brother-in-law, who sat on the checkup table in the medical portion of the house.

"The spring is a simple fix, it's just so rare to break one while its covered by the strongest piece of metal in the leg." Winry explained, still greatly annoyed, wrench held menacingly in her hand.

Al and Trisha watched, amused and terrified, from the sidelines. This would take a while.

\--------

It was 12:00 Monday morning, which should still count as Sunday night in Trisha's opinion. They had to get an early leave in order to get to the Hogwarts Express on time.

Trisha slumped tiredly against the uncomfortable Amestrians train seat. From this train, which they'd be on until about 8:30 am, they would reach a 'King's Cross' station. Form there some officials from Hogwarts that had previously spoken with Roy would take them to the station. The whole ordeal sounded exhausting to Trisha, and she found herself drifting off to sleep on the cold seat.

Trisha's eyes flew open to metallic fingers nudging her awake.

"Trish, we're at the station.' Ed whispered to her. "Remember, you refer to me as 'Ed', okay?"

"Yeah, okay." She mumbled and sat up. Ed handed her bags to her as they left the train and boarded the station.

Trisha quickly spotted her other father amongst the massive crowd of the British station. HE was talking with an old lady whose gaze looked as piercing as Colonel Hawkeye's.

Ed leant closer to Trisha to mutter in her ear, "Stay a small distance from Papa and the teacher until we're on the express. Remember, none of us are acquainted past today." Trisha nodded in understanding.

The duo followed at a safe distance until the father-up duo stopped at the brick pillar between platforms 9 and 10. Slowly, they walked through the wall.

Trisha did a double take, but had no time to question it as she found herself being pushed through it by Edward. Suddenly, they looked to be in a whole other station. Many people bustled around a huge steam engine that read 'Hogwarts Express' in fancy gold letters.

"Wow," Trisha breathed. Ed nodded in agreement.

"Just on time, too. Look, it's almost 9:00." Ed pointed out as they hurried to board the train. Needless to say, the seats were much more comfortable on this train that the wooden Amestrian variety. Trisha was quickly asleep again, head against the cold window.

Ed, seeing as the train was already pretty full, decided to sit next to his sleeping daughter. Hopefully Roy would find them and sit there too.

No such luck. Within ten minutes of comfortable silence waiting for the train to start moving, four teenagers poked their heads into the compartment apologetically.

One of them, a girl with unruly brown hair, spoke first, "I'm sorry, but would you mind if we sat here? Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all, sit in here if you'd like." Ed replied, moving closer to Trisha to make room for the teens.

Besides the brunette girl, there was another girl with fiery red hair and freckles. One of the boys also had her hair and complexion, suggesting them to be related. The last one had dark brown hair, circular glasses, and a strange jagged scar running down his forehead. The four of them sat at the seats, giving Ed strange looks.

"I don't believe I recognize your accent." The red-haired girl said. So much for completely inconspicuous.

"Amestrian." Ed replied.

"Amestrian? I've never heard of wizards coming from Amestris." The brunette girl said, then added, "I'm Hermione Granger. This is Ginny and Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." He said pointing to each person individually. Her voice sounded a pit proud to be introducing the last person, Harry."

"Cool, I'm Edward. Ed is fine." Ed replied. He was met with surprised stares. "… Did I say something?"

"N-no, but you didn't react at all to Harry's name. That's a pretty rare occurrence." Hermione explained.

"Why, Am I supposed to know him or something?" Ed said back confusedly.

"He's only the most famous person in the bloody Wizard World." Ron muttered. Ginny elbowed him. At Ed's still blank look, Ron added, "You know, defeated Voldemort when he was one?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." Ed shrugged. "Who's Vold-whatever?"

He was met with stunned with stunned faces, "I thought even muggle-born wizards would know this. VOLDEMORT. Evil psychopath, brought back form the dead just a few months ago?" Ginny said.

Ed scoffed, "It's impossible to bring a human back from the dead."

"Well, he wasn't fully dead." Harry interjected, looking uncomfortable.

"Look, why don't we talk about this later? Famous or not, your friend over there looks uncomfortable with this topic." Ed said. The group quickly changed topics when they noticed. "What year are all of you in?" Ed asked to change the mood.

"Me, Ron, and Hermione are fifth years. Ginny is fourth." Harry said, relieved not to have to talk about the happenings of last year.

"I'm a transfer for the year. I'll be in seventh I believe." Ed explained. Before anybody else could speak, however, the door to the compartment slid back to reveal a boy with slicked back platinum blonde hair and a slick smirk to match.

"Malfoy," Harry growled.

"Hello Potter. I'm surprised to see they let you come back to school after what you pulled this summer." He threw back.

At the opening door, Trisha was blearily awoken. She rubbed her eyes and asked, "What's going on?" In slurred Amestrian.

"Just some childish argument. We haven't been on the train long, you can keep sleeping if you want." Ed replied in Amestrian amusedly.

"Oh, okay." She said back and fell asleep again.

"…" The rest of the car looked at Ed for some kind for translation.

"She was asking the time. Apparently there are two Amestrians coming to Hogwarts this year." He added the last part to try to keep to the 'we don't know each other' story.

Draco sniffed at Ed portentously, "So, they're letting Amestrians into the school now? What is that blasted headmaster thinking?" He said.

Buzz off." Ed threatened. "Just because we practice something more highly evolved than magic doesn't mean we are incapable of producing magical traits. Don't get your pompous panties in a twist over it."

The other people in the compartment snorted with laughter. Drago turned red with anger.

"Why, you…" He made a move to hit Ed, but was cut short by a voice in the hallway.

"Mister Malfoy! Do not make me have to give you detention before the year has even started!" The old woman from before came into view, Roy closely in tow.

The Fürher looked as surprised about Ed getting into a fight as he would of fire being hot. In fact he looked almost exasperated. On his behalf, Ed did have a tendency to make quick enemies.

Malfoy looked angry, but said nothing as he stormed out of the compartment. The lady nodded once to the students in the car and headed on. Roy gave a pointed yet amused look to Ed before following the lady. It clearly read 'too many enemies won't help our mission, Edward'. The scrutinizing gaze of Hermione did not miss this look.

"Who was that man with Professor Magonigal?" She asked.

She was answered with shrugs and a pointedly distracted Ed, who had pulled out a book and was reading it intently.

Ed was reading one of his 'light reading' books about complex alchemic circles concerning various liquid substances. After reading a bit, he also pulled out his notebook in case he got any major findings. He started from where he left out in decoding a complex array that included the different densities of mercury.

The alchemist didn't get very far until he, once again, found the group of Brits looking at him weirdly.

"You know, most people consider it impolite to stare." He stated. Harry, Ginny and Ron backed off, focusing their attention elsewhere. Hermione, however, persisted. "You must be a very advanced wizard to understand those runes."

"What runes?" He asked.

"Those marking inside the circles and triangles!" Hermione gestured to his book.

"What? No, this is alchemy, not runes." Ed clarified.

"Alchemy, like the dead magic about turning lead into gold?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"First of all, alchemy is not some dead magic! It is a science. And second of all, it is used rather frivolously in Amestris. There are plenty of alchemists!" Ed snapped back at her. "In fact, in Amestris, magic is the dead practice, so what's so to say that this inequivalent practice is any more alive than the other?"

He and Hermione shared a glare for a good five minutes. In that time, Trisha woke up once again, sensed the atmosphere, and kept to a book while the other three sat quietly.

Eventually, a woman with a shopping trolley came about and offered some sweets. Ed and Ron gorged themselves and some level of small talk resumed for the rest of the ride until they had to change into their uniforms. The girls magically conjured a curtain so they could change privately. To avoid showing his automail, Ed already donned the shirt and slacks that come with the uniform. All he had to put on was the (ugly) sweater vest and the (less ugly) black cloak they called a 'robe'. He had his State Alchemist certification pocket watch hooked into his pants pocket out of custom. He hadn't received a tie as of yet, because he hadn't yet been sorted, whatever that meant.

The train finally pulled into a station lit by lamps. Ed, Trisha, and their new acquaintances moved their way out of the engine and onto the dark platform. They headed their way to a line of carriages that students were already boarding. Harry, the Weasleys, and Hermione stopped to talk to a lanky boy holding a strange plant, so Ed decided to lag behind a bit. He still didn't know many people here.

Ed was about to turn to go to another carriage until he noticed that Harry was looking strangely at the horse pulling the carriage, and taking a look at the creature, it was obvious why. It wasn't much of a horse, more of a horse skeleton with skin stretched out over the bones and wings jutting out of its sides. Its eyeless sockets were pointed forward into space.

"What is that thing?" Ed said, an edge of awe to his voice.

"What is what thing?" Trisha asked try as she might, she could not see what her Dad was staring so intently at.

"The thing pulling the carriage." Harry answered for him.

"Harry, the carriage pulls itself, as always." Hermione said.

A new voice spoke from in the carriage, "They are called thestrals. I can see them too." A girl with moon- white hair looked from over the carriage side. "This carriage is empty, you may sit here if you'd like." She gave a spacy smile to the group.

They clambered in. Ed ended up sitting on the ground of the carriage, as there were no seats left.

"Everyone this is Loony- I mean Luna Lovegood." Hermione said, flustered at her fumble.

Luna looked at the group of teens (and Ed), the paper she had been reading (upside down) lowered to her lap.

The ride to Hogwarts was awkward, to say the least. When someone would try to spark any conversation, Luna would add a random fact about a mystical creature dreamily and they would convert back to silence.

\--------

Once they reached the amazing castle that was apparently the school, Ed and Trisha had to separate from the group and join a bunch of nervous first- years in a room to the side of the banquet hall so they could be sorted.

The same woman who was with Roy before came in and said, "Hello, students. Welcome to Hogwarts. In just a second I will escort you through these doors and into the Great Hall. You will be sorted into your houses. Now, your house is like your family during your stay here, so I expect you to live up to the honor and regulations your house sets for you. Are we clear?"

They nodded, and the professor tuned and led them through a doorway. The Great Hall really lived up to the name. It was HUGE! When Ed looked up the ceiling didn't appear to exist, all he saw was the night sky. Students sat at long tables, the teachers at one facing the student tables at the end of the hall.

The professor led them up to the front of the hall in front of the teachers' table. Ed saw Roy smirking at him from the table. He gave him a glare back.

"Attention students, as I call your name, you will put on the sorting hat, and it will determine what house you are in. In addition to our first years, we will also be sorting two transfers from Amestris. I expect every one of you to help all new students feel at home this year." The professor said to the student body. She then took out a stool and old hat, placing them next to her. She then pulled a scroll out of her robes and opened it.

"Elric, Edward." She said.

'Great, I get to be first.' Ed mused in his mind. He snatched the hat from his head, sat on the stool, and thrust the ugly-ass garment onto his head.

'Ah, I don't see many alchemists enter this school, much less do I see adults get sorted as a student.' A voice boomed in his head.

'What the HELL is this?' Ed screamed in his mind. 'How is a HAT communicating to me through my mind?'

'I am the sorting hat, Elric. This is what I do. I see you are a prodigy, being such a good alchemist. Ravenclaw is definitely an option. But so courageous and bold! Willing to risk everything for those you love. Gryffindor is good too. But your ambitions lay high, Slytherin could use people like you.'

The hat fell silent for a while. 'You still there?' Ed thought to it.

'Yes, yes I believe you would be best for…'

"GRYFFINDOR!" It yelled verbally. The red table cheered, and the hat was removed form his head. He found his companions from the train at that table, and they made space for him to sit with them.

"You sat there for s really long time Ed. Even longer than Harry!" Hermione said.

Once the table quieted down, the old lady looked down at the scroll and yelled, "Mustang, Trisha."

Trisha slowly walked up to the hat, putting it on more gently than Ed had. She sat there for a few seconds, before the hat boomed, "SLYTHERIN!" The green table on the other side of the room cheered and she gave a sidelong glace at Ed before making her way to the table.

"Slytherin? She seemed nice, though." Ron muttered to the group.

Ed snapped his head at Ron, "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"The Slytherins are a bunch of snarky fullbloods with too much money for their own good. If she's sorted in there, she's no good." Ron said. "Us Gryffindors have been at war with them since the school was built."

"I don't know what gave you such a stereotypical view, but I don't believe it's right to base your friendship with another human just because a hat told them they were dormies with one group of people." Ed said, peeved.

He turned from the redhead and watched as a very old man took the old lady's place at the podium after the last first year was sorted.

"Teachers, students, Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Now, before the meal, I would like to introduce two new additions to out staff." The old man said. He gestured to a toady woman in all pink attire who was casting a grossly saccharine smile at the student body. "Professor Dolores Umbridge will fill in the new position of Defense Against the Dark Arts and, "he gestured to Roy, "Professor Roy Mustang will be teaching a new required class this year: Alchemy." Whispers were heard around the room.

"New subject?" Hermione said excitedly. "I didn't receive any alchemy books on the supply list this summer though."

"Hem hem." A high- pitched 'cough' brought everyone's attention to the new DADA teacher.

"She was the woman at my hearing," Harry whispered to Hermione and Ron.

Umbridge gave a very long and yippy speech about basically how the government was monitoring the Defensive education at the school and that she would live up to the standards of the ministry. From time to time, Ed would look over and see Roy cast wary glances at the pink lady and roll his eyes. When she finally finished, everyone half-heartedly applauded. Umbridge returned to her seat and cast a saucy look over her students.

After that, the old guy resumed talking and when he finally finished, food magically appeared in front of everyone.

"Wha- how did that food appear there?" Ed said, baffled.

Harry looked at him blankly, "Magic." He said in a 'duh' sort of voice.

"Don't be stupid, nothing can just pop out of thin air!" Ed said back. "There need to be equivalence!"

"What are you talking about? That's why it's magic, it doesn't need balance." Hermione stated, grabbing some food off of a serving platter.

Ed sighed and gave in, stacking food onto his own plate, "This goes against everything I've been taught." Internally, he added, 'but I can't exactly scream about it right now, that could blow our cover on the first night.' Instead, he stuffed his face full of food until it disappeared and the students were escorted to their dormitories. By now, Ed had been awake, on two trains, confused, and deprived of his family for way too long, and he was thoroughly exhausted.

He was too grumpy and tired to notice the pictures were moving along the hallways and that one of said pictures opened to form the cozy dormitory he now resided in. He slumped up the stairs after he was shown where his bed was and practically passed out face first on the pillow.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I started this chapter then realized I couldn't write people teaching classes for shit, so yeah... that was fun.

To say that Ed was cranky the next morning would be a huge understatement. He was downright pissed. Needless to say, he didn't like having to wake up early in a room full of snoring teens in order to shower before anyone so his automail would stay a secret. And, of course, it was just lovely to see a fucking GHOST fly straight through the shower walls. She looked him over once with a transparent smirk, then cackled and flew into one of the drains. Immediately, the water had gone freezing cold, so he could add that to his list of 'happy morning happenings at stupid school'.

He wove his way through the maze of hallways until he finally found the Great Hall, where breakfast was waiting on the ginormous tables. He spotted the three he'd been on the train with, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and decided to sit there. At least he knew a few people were on good terms with him a day after meeting, something he couldn't say for many of his acquaintances.

"'Morning," He grumbled to them and began to violently shovel food from the serving platters onto his plate. They looked at him strangely.

"You seem cheerful." Ron commented between rounds of toast.

"Oh yeah, lovely. I love having ghosts make my shower water the temperature of dry ice and getting lost trying to walk to breakfast while carrying a disgustingly heavy backpack. Best morning I could POSSIBLY think of." He hissed back. "At least I have Alchemy first, I can get an extra hour of sleep."

Hermione looked vastly offended, "Why would you fall asleep in class? Especially a new subject that nobody in the school has taken yet!"

"Pfft, he's just gonna go over the basics. That's the stuff they'd teach in kindergarten." Ed said. "Probably only gonna be drawing circles or memorizing the rules or some crap like that."

Hermione began to rant about education, and Ed quickly zoned out. He looked across the room in an attempt to find Trisha. He spotted her looking very annoyed and uncomfortable next to the blonde prick that had assaulted them on the train. He and what looked to be his followers were speaking to Trisha, who glared at them periodically and continued to eat her breakfast. As Ed continued to observe the scene, Trisha looked increasingly annoyed with the Slytherins. At one point, she stood up, gave them a final glare, and stalked out of the room. It was then that he realized that Hermione was trying to get his attention.

"What?" Ed asked.

"I said don't you think it strange that a new required subject has been added?" She clarified. From Harry' and Ron's expressions, they agreed with her.

"Not necessarily. Alchemy has been around far longer than magic, its kind of magic's ancestor. I find it strange that it isn't already taught here." Ed said defensively. "What's got you three so suspicious? A new course or two isn't an uncommon thing in schools."

"It is at Hogwarts." Harry chimed in. "The same subjects have been taught for almost a thousand years. This is the first year that transfers have been allowed, as well."

"Really, now?" Before they could question him, Ed hefted his backpack over his shoulders and stood up. "Well, I left something in the common room. See you guys later."

\--------

The three watched Edward walk out of the common room suspiciously.

"I think it's obvious he's here for a bigger reason than getting an education." Hermione said. "Nobody leaves that quickly into a meal, especially when they are the subject of the conversation."

"I don't know Hermione, maybe he's awkward around people. He definitely doesn't seem to enjoy company that much." Harry suggested.

"Think about it Harry, Edward, one of the first two transfers Hogwarts has ever seen, is from a country that has been isolated from the rest of the world for so long that they kept an ancient form of magic alive when the rest of the world evolved. The other transfer is from there too, and there happens to be a new subject filling out that exact art the year they arrive. Does that not seem strange to you? Plus, I believe I've heard his last name before. Elric. It rings a bell, I just don't know from where." Hermione explained to the other two.

"Either way, shouldn't we be more concerned with… you know who… and the order right now?" Ron added.

Harry seemed to understand Hermione's point, though, "But what if they are helping out the enemy? On the flip side, they could be of help." He put in. The other two nodded, and the table went back to silence.

\--------

Ed trudged into the Alchemy classroom five minutes early, two red-headed boys on either side of him. They were chatting rather loudly about random things to Ed, who looked more and more fed up every second. He shot a glare at the smirking form of Roy, who was sitting at his desk rather comfortably.

"Good Morning Professor." Ed snidely said as he made his way next one of the three- person tables and dumped his backpack onto the floor next to the middle seat. He sat down in it and rested his chin on his arms, which were folded together on the table. The redheads sat on either side of him, scooting their chairs as close as they possibly to the blonde.

"I see you've made friends, Edward." Roy commented in Amestrian, amused at the growing look of exasperation on Ed's face.

"They've been pestering me since I left the Great Hall." Ed spat back in Amestrian.

"What're you saying, Eddy?" One of them asked, nudging him in the side.

"Quit it, haven't you ever heard of personal space?" He glared at the one on his left. "And don't call me that."

"I think we've upset him, George." The one who had been glared at said to the other one in mock concern.

"Don't worry Fred, I don't think he can physically contain that much anger." The other one said in a purposefully loud mutter.

"DON'T YOU DARE IMPLY THAT I'M SHORT."

"It's not much of an implication." They said in unison.

Ed began furiously cursing them out in English, Amestrian, and German while the twins laughed and more students filed into the classroom, a mix of fear at the scene in front of them and anticipation for the class on their faces. Roy scanned the crowd, observing the students. This class was a mix of Gryffindors and Slytherins, and the divide was obvious. They sat in opposite sides of the room, the hostility boiling in the center like a pot with a closed lid. Oh, a few of them waved to each other and struck up friendly banter, but that was a sparse few in the colliding waves of red and green.

Eventually, everyone found a seat, and Roy stood up to begin class. "Hello Class, I am Professor Mustang. Welcome to your first alchemy class of the year. Now, before we begin, I'd like for you to go around the room and call out your names, starting from the left corner and snaking around until you reach the diagonal corner." So started the long train of names. Once the last kid stuttered out her name, Roy smiled and walked towards the edge of his desk, picking up the old leather- bound book that sat at the end of it.

"Who all received this book upon request from the school?" He asked, holding up the textbook. Almost all hands went up, excepting Ed's and the twins who sat with him. "Well, you should try to get a refund on it when you can, it's completely useless." Confused noises here heard from around the room, the twins shared a proud smirk that the rest of the class glared at. Ed was asleep, as expected.

"This book teaches alchemy through a 'magical' perspective. For it to work, you must see it as a science, not magic. With magic, most laws of equivalence can be ignored with no consequence, but alchemical work must be completely balanced from input to output, or else the alchemist could be injured or even killed." Multiple students gasped, Roy continued. "In Amestris, where alchemy is common, there are strict rules set around the types of alchemy performed. For example, gold cannot be created out of any substance besides gold, as the value of the outcome is more than the value of the first material. Here, however, there are little to no rules set around transmutations, which opens up our first topic." He turned to the chalkboard and wrote "understanding" in large letters at the top.

"The first step to alchemy is Understanding the materials you will be using. For Every material you will need to know it's chemical composition and how to realign it to create a new object. With Understanding, you must also know one crucial fact: in order to gain, something of equal value must be lost. For instance, if I were to transmute a fire, I would have to use the already existing oxygen in the air. Trying to create it otherwise could be catastrophic in damage. Now, is anyone familiar with the Periodic Table of Elements?"

Nobody raised their hand or made any move to show their understanding.

Roy sighed, "This is a classroom full of seventeen year olds and you haven't had any kind of chemistry class?" Heads were shaken. One girl slowly raised her hand.

"Yes?" He asked her.

"Sir… he's asleep…" She pointed to Ed, who was most definitely asleep.

Roy walked over to Ed, stopping in front of his table, "Yes, he does seem to be asleep." Looking around, Roy grabbed the first (useless) Alchemy textbook he could find, which happened to be his own. He tore a few pages out of it, to the gasps of a few students, and drew a transmutation circle on the top page. Placing the stack on top of Ed's unaware head, he activated the circle, effectively turning the pages into water.

Ed spluttered awake, "What the HELL was that for?" He yelled when he saw Roy's smirking form in front of him. Clapping, the angry blonde transmuted the water into vapor, drying his hair.

"It's rude to fall asleep in your first class of the year, Elric." Roy smugly replied. "Because you feel so inclined to be disrespectful, why don't you help your classmates with the knowledge of basic chemistry and draw the periodic table on the board? Judging by the impressive display of alchemy you used to dry your hair I doubt that will be a challenge." He held out a piece of chalk, which Ed snatched and stalked up to the chalkboard with, angrily drawing out the table.

Roy looked around the other students, who were a little shocked at the display, "I expect you to copy down the table that Mr. Elric is drawing into your notes, and you are expected to have a basic understanding of it by next week, as you simply cannot progress in the alchemic field without knowing the elements. The Periodic Table is organized into different groups based upon weather they are metals or nonmetals, and are aligned vertically by the numbers of electrons in their outer shell. Depending on the amount of electrons there are, the elements can either trade or fuse electrons in the outer shell, creating different substances. For example Water, or H2O, is created when two hydrogens, which need one electron to be stable, meet with Oxygen, which has two in the shell. Each Hydrogen fuses with one of the Oxygen's electrons, and it stabilizes into water. Any questions?"

The class went on as usual. The young witches and wizards were very confused by the structured and specific science of elements, which did not bode well for their future success in the class. A good majority of them had never thought to pick up any kind of chemistry or physics book, as apparently the Wizard World had no need for science. The first class ended up being a quick review of basic chemical concepts (Roy was suspicious that Ed had fallen asleep multiple times after he had jotted down the table).

Much to the amusement of the Flame Alchemist, the twins that had dubbed themselves Ed's friends continuously picked on Ed throughout the class. The other kids in the class sent equally amused and sympathetic looks towards the small alchemist. Roy guessed the twins held an obnoxious reputation at the school.

Another thing Roy noticed throughout the first class was the complete hostility that The Slytherins and Gryffindors held towards each other. The opposing houses would glare at each other and try to speak over each other in discussions. The classroom was evenly divided between red and green, only the few tables in the middle of the classroom clashing. Much like a battlefield Roy observed.

"Okay, your first bit of homework won't be too hard, just explain why the basic rules you have just learnt are so crucial to alchemy, giving one paragraph of each rule. If your notes were good enough this should be no problem." Roy said to the class when the bell signaled the end of class.

Several groans were heard about the room at the prospect of homework on the first day, but most happily exited for their next class. Ed, whilst being dragged out by the redhead twins, gave Roy a pointed glare, which he returned with an amused smirk that he knew Ed hated. He saw the blonde roll his eyes, but his mouth twitched up in the smallest smile before he was around the doorway and out of sight.

\--------

Ed made his way to the next class of the day: Defense Against the Dark Arts, which sounded cool, but probably wouldn't be if that pink lady was teaching it. She looked like a controlling pawn of the government, and her speech justified it.

"Alchemy seems like it'll be a real pain in the future, so much knowledge." One of the twins said beside Ed.

The blonde shrugged, "Once you memorize the Table it is a simple deal of making the circle that will rearrange the elements to your liking. At least for me the chemistry aspect was the most difficult at first."

"Was that alchemy you used to dry your hair?" one of them asked.

Ed nodded, "Yeah, I turned the water into vapor by separating the atoms." He explained as they entered the classroom.

Right when he stepped in, Ed was bombarded by the scent of perfume and tea. It was way too strong for the second hour of the day and it made Ed feel slightly nauseated. He and the twins (which he should really try to tell the difference between) sat in the middle of the room at individual desks. They were positioned in a similar fashion as Roy's room, with the large windows to the left of the students, who faced a rotatable chalkboard next to the teacher's desk. The desk itself was the most decorated thing in the room. It was spilling over with pink things and little doilies and tea saucers, a neat stack of textbooks right in the middle.

The pink- emblazoned toadess herself sat in a cushioned chair behind the desk, observing her second class with a watchful eye and a far-too-wide smile. Though she hadn't even said a word yet, Ed felt the need to punch the squat lady for further ruining an already crappy morning by simply existing. Looking beside him, he saw that the twins (Fred and George, was it?) had similar intentions in their minds. One of them (Fred, maybe?) leaned over toward Ed, muttering, "Sickening, isn't she?"

Ed nodded, scrunching up his nose for emphasis, "What perfume pond did she crawl out of anyways?"

"Wherever the little toadies are born pink, I can tell you that much." The other one said in response. The trio had to stifle their amusement as Professor Umbridge stood up with a little "hem hem" to get the students' attention.

"Good Morning class. I, Professor Dolores Umbridge, am happy to welcome you to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of your school term." She grabbed the pile of textbooks on the desk. "Go ahead and put away your wands, children, you won't be needing them in here all year. You see, the ministry believes that it is crucial to learn about defensive spells through composition, theory, and in a safe environment, so no magic will be needed."

Ed snorted.

Umbridge swiveled on her little feet to face Edward, "Do you have something to say to the class, young man?"

"Well, I don't see how learning defensive magic would be useful at all without physically practicing it. To train the mind, one must also train their body, right?"

A vein ticked on Umbridge's forehead, "Well, learning the theory of a spell is just as useful as knowing how to cast it, and learning such violent magic is unsafe for a school environment."

Ed quirked an eyebrow, "Then why is there even a class for it if not knowing the inside and out of the theory is all that matters? Won't it be even more dangerous if someone is actually put into a dangerous situation and they cast the spell incorrectly?"

The color of the woman's face was beginning to match her clothing, "Are you trying to suggest that the Ministry of Magic is handling magical education the wrong way?"

"Well not really bu-" Ed said before being interrupted.

"Then I would suggest keeping you mouth shut during class." Umbridge snapped before slamming a textbook onto his desk, doing the same for the rest of the class. She strode back up to the front of the classroom, plastered her gooey smile back on, and began writing practical defensive phrases on the board.

The class was entirely boring, as it consisted of taking notes and reciting from a book. During the class, Fred, George, and Edward would send each other looks that turned from bored and exasperated to increasingly scheming. Did that pink toad really think she could wrongly berate the Fullmetal Alchemist and get away with it? Ed knew one thing for sure, and it was that he was not going to make this year easy for this woman: not at all.  
___________________________________


	4. Chapter 3

"No, I think we're going at it in the wrong direction. We want to mess with Umbridge, not give her ptsd." Ed hunched over the breakfast table with Fred and George. "And Physically injuring her would only work against us in the long run." He poked at his toast in concentration. It was the seventh weekend of the school year, and he planned to use it to the best of his abilities.

So far, Ed had only really made friends with the twins and Harry and his group (though he had a feeling they were suspicious of him). Really, though, this was substantially good for him. Normally after a month Ed would have five enemies hunting him down, not five reliable acquaintances- still too early to be 'friends'- helping him exact revenge.

"I think you're right. Maybe we can slip some puking pestles into her tea?" One of the twins (Ed was pretty sure it was George) suggested.

"I feel like she drinks the stuff enough to tell if there was an alteration in it." The other one (most likely Fred) pointed out. "On the right track, though."

Ed hummed in agreement, looking over to the teacher's table. He saw, to his disdain, Umbridge smugly nibbling on a piece of bread and talking to the rigid form of Professor McGonagall, who looked about ready to transfigure the pink- clad lady into an actual toad. He did not, however, see the professor he was looking for. As a matter of fact, most of the teachers' table was vacant.

"There's only like six professors up there, where could the others be?" He asked the twins.

"They probably already headed over to Hogsmeade for the day." The one that was most likely Fred said.

"What's Hogsmeade?" Ed asked.

"It's a wizarding town where anyone third year and above can go on the weekends. It's a bit of a walk from here, but we've found a…" George (maybe) leaned in before continuing, "…secret passage straight from the school to the candy shop there."

"Inside the school?" Ed said, astonished. "How have the teachers not found you out?"

They both smiled wryly, "The trick is to not let them realize you're sneaking about."

The trio had to stop their scheming when they noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione making their way towards the table. Hermione clasped a huge pile of books in her arms.

Hermione sat down next to Ed, Ron beside her. Harry sat across from them next to the twins.

Good morning boys," Hermoine vaguely said, already immersed in a book. Looking at the stack, Ed was surprised to find most of them about alchemy.

"I didn't know these were in the library." He commented, picking up an old looking book called Famous Alchemists from Ancient to Modern Times. There was no author listed.

"They're in the restricted section. Professor Mustang gave me permission to go in for some alchemy books to further research on subject." Hermione explained. "The one you're holding updates itself every year or so, so most of the alchemists in it are very recent."

Oh, Shit. Ed thought. If they were recent, his and Roy's names had to be in there somewhere. The youngest enlisted alchemist and the alchemical hero of Ishval weren't titles that would very easily be passed off as unimportant or unknown.

Hermione continued talking about her books, oblivious to Ed's thoughts, "I can't make sense of a lot of the material. It is all very confusing, and certain circles look very much alike."

Ed nodded, rolling his eyes the smallest bit and peering into the pages of the book Hermione was immersed in. He immediately gasped and yanked the book out of the girl's grasp.

"Hey!" She shouted.

Ed stood up, hefting his backpack over his shoulder and holding the two books in his arms.

"What do you think you are doing?" Hermione continued to yell angrily.

Ed turned on her angrily. Though he knew it wasn't necessarily intentional that she borrowed a book on human transmutation, the novel's mere existence angered him. "I'm bringing these to Mustang so he can incinerate them. Books like these shouldn't exist, much less in a school." He shouted before running out of the room in search of his husband.

\--------

After a while of running down the hallways and up staircases, he slowed to a stop. He just remembered that Fred and George had said most teachers were probably at that Hogsmeade place. Knowing Roy, he wouldn't very well miss out on a chance to socialize. "Goddamnit!" Ed yelled into the empty hallway he had run into. "How am I going to get to Mustang if he's not even in the school?"

"Like we said, Eddy. We know a secret passage." Two voices rang simultaneously behind him.

Ed sighed, "How did I know you two would follow me?" He asked the Weasley twins.

They shrugged, "Do you want to find the Professor or not?"

"Fine, let's go."

They set off at a walk up the never-ending flights of stairs, Ed following close behind the twins.

"So, what is so bad about that book anyways?" One of the twins asked (damn Ed if he knew which one).

"The book- or at least the page Hermione was on- was explaining an array that aids in human transmutation, or using living people in alchemy. It's a depraved kind of alchemy, and is highly illegal in Amestris for good reason. Not only is it generally immoral, but if you attempt a human transmutation, you and others around you are bound to be either hurt or killed, and it mostly never turns out well." His automail arm gripped tighter around the book at his words. "Why they would have it at a school- restricted section or not- is beyond my comprehension. This stuff isn't even allowed in high-rank military libraries back in Amestris, where alchemy is a commonplace. Here, where it is so rare and there is little regulation, anything could go horribly wrong."

'Unless the alchemists we're after planted it here.' The new idea bit sharply into Ed's mind, and his pace quickened as they reached the top of the staircase. Theoretically, it made some sense. If you were to conduct an act of illegal alchemy in a school, where better to hide you're research than a rarely used part of it's ancient library- the least frequently used room of any school? And if the alchemical breach was so out of hand that it required two foreign professionals to handle it, then it couldn't be much but a human transmutation, right? But why a school? The new possibilities made new questions in Ed's head. He had to disclose his new possible lead to Roy- and soon.

Eventually, the trio stopped climbing the stairs, and they entered a long, dark corridor. At the beginning of the corridor stood an old cob-webbed statue of an old, craggy, one-eyed witch. In the time it took Ed to look around the long corridor, Fred and George had already opened up the secret passage and entered an even darker tunnel. He entered the dark tunnel closely behind the twins. When he was a few meters into the passage, the door closed. He gave a jump, and so did the twins.

"It normally doesn't close on it's own." One of them whispered. "Perhaps it was Peeves. He does tend to lurk about the third floor corridor."

"Who's Peeves?" Ed whispered.

"He's our allied Poltergeist. He sometimes helps us get back at other students. He's got bloody amazing stunts up his sleeves." The other said.

The tunnel was completely dark- save for the light conjured form the twins' wands- in the passageway, but dry and not too cold. It was much better than some of the places Ed had had to traverse on some of his missions. Throughout that long walk Ed could not shake the feeling that they were being watched, but these kinds of environments tend to do that.

Eventually, they reached a trap door that led up into the basement floor of what Fred and George told Ed was a candy shop called 'Honeydukes'. Sure enough, once they snuck up the stairs and into the main level of the building, there was candy overflowing from barrels and drawers stretched higher than what even Major Armstrong could reach. The building was not too busy yet, but the Weasleys promised that once the other students showed up it would be a hell house- and Ed was willing believe them on that.

They made their way out of the shop, entering an already bustling cobblestone street. There were no cars or anything, just a lot of witches and wizards in those ridiculous robes and hats entering and exiting various bars, shops, and apartments. Hogwarts stood proud and pointy in the distance, and a close-to-collapsing shack creaked in an open field a little closer to the village.

"Where would most of the teachers be?" Ed asked the twins.

"They would most likely be at the Three Broomsticks. That's a restaurant slash pub that's popular with both students and teachers." One of them explained. He pointed to a wooden, two-story building that had an 'open' sign in a window. Ed strode towards the door. But as he was about to open it, another person slammed it open from the inside and promptly crashed into him. Both fell over onto the bricks of the road.

Ed could hear Fred and George dying of laughter behind him as he got up to apologize to whomever he crashed into. It turned out that he had knocked over the very man he was in search of.

"Ah, sorry Professor." Ed said, holding out a hand to help Roy up with. The Flame Alchemist waved it away.

"It's perfectly fine, Elric." Roy seemed amused by Ed's clumsiness, which annoyed the blonde. It was then that he remembered the books that he had previously held before he was knocked down. They were sitting a few feet away, one of them laying open face down on top of the other. Ed picked them up, dusting off the covers and waving them at Roy.

"I need to talk to you somewhere nobody can eavesdrop. I think I've found a new lead on our mission." Ed murmured in Amestrian.

"Follow me." Roy stated, lead way down the street and towards a clump of forest near the decrepit shack. After scanning the area with his one eye, he said, "This should do."

Ed opened the transmutation book, "Hermione checked this book out of the restricted section of the library unaware that it was on human transmutation. Why a school would have such a horrible book, restricted or not, is unsettling and it makes me believe that it may have been planted or hidden by our unknown suspect. If this were part of their research it could benefit us greatly in the investigation."

Roy took the book, skinning over it quickly. "This could be important, you're right. Before we confirm that it has any relevance to the case, however, why don't you ask Madame Pince weather or not she has a record of the book. If it exists in the records- particularly the older ones, we'll know it wasn't hidden or planted by an unknown person or people."

Ed looked at the book, disgusted, "And to think that Hermione was reading that. This is something that shouldn't exist within miles of anybody- much less a curious student."

"Yes, if it's in the older records I'll have to bring this up to the Headmaster." Roy agreed. "What's the other book?"

Ed opened the other book, "It's about the different famous alchemists through history up to now. It self- updates every year or two. Hermione had this one as well."

"…Well shit." Roy said, trading books with Ed to scan over the last few pages. When he neared the last few pages, he quirked a brow and showed the page in question to Ed.

It was Ed's page, of course. Just a quick scan over the page would have been able to ruin the entire case for him. After his name, military rank and name, age, and alchemical achievements was a blurb on his family and relations, including- of course- Al, Roy, and Trisha at the top of the list.

"Good God, I'm glad she hadn't looked through this first." Ed laughed, "That'd have been the quickest assignment I'd ever failed." Roy agreed.

"Not mine."

"I am quite aware of that Edward."

"Shut up." Another question appeared in Ed's mind. "Hey, who informed you of the alchemical breach anyways?"

Roy thought for a moment, "A message was passed up from some in the lower ranks. Apparently the original informant was through an anonymous letter that combusted seconds after it was read. The envelope sported the Ministry of Magic's emblem, so the situation was deemed serious enough by the council to be assigned to the military."

"Seems slightly suspicious. We might have to check into that as well." Ed suggested.

"I was planning on trying to get information out of Umbridge, but that woman is more loyal to her government than any one I've ever worked with." An annoyed edge in Roy's voice made Ed snort out a short laugh.

"She's a bitch to the teachers too?" Ed asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Roy rolled his eyes. "If McGonagall doesn't transfigure her into something by the end of the year it'll be a miracle."

"Her method of teaching makes me want to transmute my ears off just so I won't have to sit and have to listen to another minute of her class. Fucking Defense Against the Dark Arts- you'd think we'd actually practice defensive spells, right? Nope. Her class is 'composition and theory in a safe environment, as the Ministry Suggests is best.'" Ed mocked.

"That seems rather counter-intuitive." Roy observed.

"Yeah, yeah it does."

Somewhere fairly nearby, a stumbling sound was heard, followed by the faintest sound of muffled voices. Ed and Roy's heads both swung to the direction of the sound, but saw nothing.

"Do you think someone is eavesdropping?" Roy muttered.

"It could have just been a squirrel." Ed suggested, but one look at his face proved that he didn't believe it.

"It sounded too distant for anyone to be able to hear what we were saying. But still, I don't think we should continue our conversation out here. Meet me in my classroom sometime this afternoon and we can keep talking." Roy muttered.

Ed nodded and turned, reluctant to leave so soon. "I've got to find Fred and George again anyways. See ya." He ran back to where the Three Broomstick was, seeing Fred and George still standing nearby.

"Well?" One of them asked.

"Professor Mustang has confiscated the books and will not admonish Hermione for accidentally checking it out." Ed replied.

"Alright. Now that we've got that over with, how about we get some butterbeer?" The other one offered, heading towards the Three Broomsticks.

"Sure?" Ed replied, unsure of what this butterbeer could taste like.

"Well, come on then." Both twins said as they hurried to the shop.

\--------

Harry, Ron, and Hermione strode away from the forest, thoroughly more confused and curious than before.

"Well?" Hermione asked, still in the confines of the invisibility cloak.

"We couldn't hear what they were saying, but I think it's obvious that Edward and Professor Mustang are allied for some secretive reason. Maybe if Ron hadn't stepped on my foot, we could have gotten close enough to hear what they were saying." Harry said, pointed looking at the youngest Weasley brother.

"It wasn't my fault your foot was in the bloody way." Ron muttered.

"Either way, do you think we should try to study them more about weather or not they are suitable to recruit into the Order?" Hermione asked.

"Or if they are working for you-know-who." Ron added.

"That too."

"I think we should. Who knows, two alchemists may be a huge asset to the Order." Harry answered. "And if they're spies for Voldemort, we'll be able to take them down."

With their priorities set, the trio took off the cloak and continued into Hogsmeade, ready to make the most of their weekend.  
_____________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it- the third chapter! The next chapter might take a bit cuz im a bit foggy on the timeline in the 5th book. I'm planning on rewatching it this weekend, though, so it will be alright!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I know it's been forever since I've posted, and I have no excuse, So I'm very sorry.   
> The ending is a bit crappy, but I'm not too disappointed with this chapter as a whole, so enjoy!!

By noon, Ed was making his way back to Hogwarts, this time via a wide road that other students were traversing as well. The temperature, though summery, was fairly cool, and a nice breeze set the air into motion. 

He had just entered the borders of the school’s premises when he heard the unmistakable sound of feet shuffling on the ground behind him. 

“Edward!” A voice called out to him. He turned around to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione making their way towards him. The alchemist slowed down to let the three catch up with him.

“Care to explain yourself?” Hermione shot, casting Ed with a frustrated look. 

“About your books?” Ed clarified. At her eyebrow quirk that clearly meant ‘What else?’ Ed nodded and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I gave them to Professor Mustang to confiscate. Like I said before, books about human alchemy shouldn’t belong in a school- It’s too dangerous.”

“What do you mean too dangerous? Nobody except you and the professor can even perform alchemy.” She argued.

“I mean, that’s a good point, but human transmutation is such a taboo that those kinds of books are nowhere to be found in Amestris, even in high-rank military research libraries. The only way you can possibly not lose at LEAST a limb from human alchemy is if you have a philosopher’s stone.” Ed explained. “And the philosopher’s stone is a taboo mess within itself to make.”  
Ed gave the trio a confused look when they visibly paled at the mention of the Philosopher’s Stone, but shrugged it off and stored it away for later questioning.

“Wait, but the other book you took was about famous people, right?” Harry asked. “That’s got nothing to do with taboos.”

It was Ed’s turn to be at a loss for words, “I-uh-I forgot I was holding it when I saw your other book and just took it with me. Mustang has that one too, but I bet he’ll give it back if you ask.”  
They fell into a short silence as they neared the castle. Just as they were weaving their way through the courtyard and back into the school a familiar voice snapped, “Oh just shove off already!” Around the corner stormed an irate Trisha and a highly amused Draco Malfoy. “For the last time, I'm not telling… Oh, Hi you guys.” Trisha’s tone became slightly less irritated upon greeting the four, but Malfoy’s smirk darkened into a sneer. 

“Potter,” He snapped.

“Malfoy,” Harry replied just as coldly.

Ed turned to Trisha and asked, “What’s going on?”

Trisha replied through her teeth, “It turns out Slytherins like to know the families that other Slytherins are from. To judge their status is my best bet.”

Looking back at the trio, Harry and Draco were already boiled down in an argument, and Hermione and Ron were desperately trying to pull Harry away. Noticing a flash of pink at the end of the hallway, Ed reached out and grabbed Harry roughly by the arm with his automail arm and dragged him into the building away from Malfoy. The Slytherin stormed off in the opposite direction. 

“Are you looking to start a fistfight and get detention?” He murmured to Harry, who seemed baffled. In explanation, Ed jerked his head towards the pink form of none other than Professor Toadette herself. When she had passed them by with no less than a suspicious glance and a little ‘hmph’, Ed said, “I’ve gotta go, unless you want to come up with me to Mustang’s classroom to get your book, Hermoine.”

“I’ll get it later.” She waved him off. 

“Suit yourself,” Ed shrugged, making his way down the hallway with Trisha in tow.

After he had turned the corner Harry turned to his friends, still looking puzzled, “His hand- it didn’t feel like flesh when he grabbed my arm. It felt like cold metal through his glove.”

Ron and Hermione’s eyes scrunched in confusion, “That’s ridiculous Harry, he can’t move a metal hand on his own. Plus, wouldn’t we be able to hear it if his arm were completely metal?” Hermione said.

“Well, I’m not saying he has any fake arm of the sort, it was just what I felt.” Harry replied. 

Together, they headed towards the library.  
\------------------------------------------------

Ed entered Roy’s classroom alone, Trisha having veered down a side hallway halfway to the room. Upon peering through the just-opened door, Ed found Roy doing an amazing job at not looking like he wanted to murder the women talking beside him. If Ed were any less perceptive or less acquainted with the man, he wouldn’t be able to tell that Professor Umbridge annoyed him at all. 

Dolores and Roy shot their attention towards the door as it opened (Roy in hidden relief and Umbridge in disdain). 

“Elric,” Both teachers addressed Ed.

Ed at least had the audacity to act shy-ish around the stout woman, “Sorry to interrupt, I had a question for Professor Mustang, but it can wait-“

Umbridge sucked in her breath, sounding mildly offended, “Certianl-“

“-ly not, Elric. I am glad to aid your studies. Dolores, I would obligingly continue this interrogation on a later date. You see, I would never allow a student to confuse themselves over the basic alchemy we’ve been learning.” Roy interjected quickly in his smoothest of tones. 

Umbridge let out a quick burst of air in the form of a high- pitched ‘hmpf’ and pressed her clipboard deep into her pink hip in obvious irritation. “I see.” She clipped before she once again smiled so sweetly a candy store would pale in comparison (it made Ed want to punch her fake-happy little face right into a wall) and bustled out of the room. 

The second the door closed behind Umbridge, Roy let out a breath and muttered, “One snap, that’s all it would take.”

Ed chuckled and moved to sit on the edge of Roy’s desk. “I guess you haven’t gotten any further in the inspection of our favorite teacher?”

“Lovely sarcasm, as usual, Edward.” 

“My pleasure.” Ed made an exaggerated bow from atop the desk.

Roy leaned in towards the blonde, “I haven’t found anything suspicious about her, but I was able to determine that the Human Transmutation book doesn’t belong to any section of the Hogwarts library.”

“So it was definitely planted.” Ed clarified.

“It’s extremely probable, yes.” 

Ed narrowed his eyes, “But…”

“But, we can’t rule out any other possibilities yet. I’ll bring the presence of this book up with the headmaster.”

“Good. I haven’t gotten anywhere in the search, in part of having to do homework. I haven’t had to actually do any schoolwork since I was like ten, it’s horrible.” Ed complained.

Roy hid an amused look. “You’re excluding the part where you excel in all of the work, despite not even believing in magic.”

Ed waved a hand dismissively, “Minor detail. It still holds me back from inspection.”

“Less than anyone else I’d imagine.” 

“Whatever. Hey, before you bring the book up with Dumbledore, we should read it over and write anything suspicious down. For all we know he may confiscate it.” Ed pointed out.

“I’m ahead of you on that thought,” Roy said. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out his research notebook. On it were notes and page numbers that Ed could assume were from the book Roy had confiscated. “Whoever planted the book was definitely taking notes on some form of research, but they neglected to put any of it in code, luckily for us. Unluckily, there’s a huge problem with the book itself.”

Ed furrowed his brows, “What’s the problem with it, besides being a depraved piece of sin garbage?”

“Well, this ‘depraved piece of sin garbage’ seems to have no real goal. The notes ramble, and they appear to be simply copied out of various sources. The writing and language used differs from Amestrian to English multiple times, and the circles are completely unrelated. Either this is the most complex attempt to create a wild goose chase in the history of wild goose chases, or they are completely inept at taking notes, whoever they are.”

Ed picked the journal book up from the table, flipping through its thick pages. Sure enough, every ten or so pages the language would switch entirely, and the circles varied from simple child-level skill to nearly philosopher’s stone creation level. “What the hell, this is such a mess! How would you even be able to record something so shitty?”

A knock at the door startled the two men. Ed quickly slid off of Roy’s desk and brought his stuff over to a desk. At Roy’s curt, “Come in.” The door opened, revealing Hermione. Roy smoothly slid his notes back into his desk drawer as she walked in. 

Hermione caught Ed’s eye and gave him a suspicious look as she walked up towards Roy’s desk.

“Professor Mustang, I’m aware that you have the books that I checked out from the restricted section. Might I have them back?”

Roy quickly looked over at Ed before giving Hermione an apologetic look, “I’m sorry Miss Granger, but I’m afraid I have to bring them up to Dumbledore for confiscation.”

“I understand professor, but what was so offensive about the books? For all I could tell they were about very simple alchemy.” Hermione said.

“About halfway through the book, as you can see here-“ Roy flipped the book to one of the pages with very complex circles,-“ The content of the book becomes much more complex, some of the circles and research in the book is actually human transmutation, which is one of the largest taboos in the alchemical world.”

Hermione paled. It was obvious, if it hadn’t already been, that she had checked the book out on accident, “Oh my, I had no idea!” She said quietly.

“I’m actually relieved that you found the book, Ms. Granger. Now we can make sure it doesn’t fall into less well-minded hands.” Roy said. Hermione turned to leave, but Roy stopped her momentarily.

“I’m curious, though, as to why you chose to check out this journal out of all of the other research journals in the forbidden section.”

Hermione turned back around, “Well, sir, the front of the book has Nicholas Flamel’s symbol on it. Harry, Ron, and I found a Philosopher’s Stone that had been keeping him alive for a few hundred years about four years ago. Dumbledore destroyed the stone on Flamel’s request, but I knew that he was a very skilled alchemist, so I assumed that the book would be helpful.” She explained. 

The observation Ed had made before (when the trio had frozen up at his mentioning the Philosopher’s stone) clicked into place.  
Ed felt a surge of some intense emotion in between being taken aback and being furious. He stood up and shouted, “That’s a load of bullshit, you can’t destroy a philosopher’s stone, it’s the purest substance known to this world!”

“Language, Elric.” Roy said. “But he's right, Miss Granger. Once the Philosopher’s stone has been successfully created it is impossible to destroy it. The power would have to be used up, and that could take centuries.”

“Well, at the end of our first year, Harry told me that Dumbledore had destroyed the stone upon Flamel’s request. It had fallen into Voldemort’s hands and they didn’t want to risk him obtaining it again.” Hermione explained. 

“And why did this Voldemort man want it?” Roy asked. 

“He needed to get his body back. A the time he was just a soul taking residence inside of our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” 

Ed stiffened, “That would suggest that he’s very informed on alchemy. Only someone who has done a lot of research would know how to use a stone.”

Roy shot Ed a reassuring look (one that Hermione may or may not have seen).  
Ed returned it and continued talking, “This Voldemort guy is the one you were saying was after Harry?” At Hermione’s nod, Ed looked away and remained silent, still in thought (rather out of character for the usually hot-headed alchemist). 

“Well, if I may suggest, there may be a way that the stone was used without alchemy. After all, Voldemort is an extremely skilled and dangerous dark wizard, he could have known how to make, or at least use, the Philosopher’s stone by magic instead of magic.” Hermione suggested. “I’m not defending him, mind you, but that possibility could open up an entirely new form of alchemy-magic that he has a grasp of.”

Ed shook his head, “Alchemy is purely scientific, and it works off of exact equivalence. Magic involved would throw the fundamentals off. The Philosopher’s stone is made out of sacrificing life, Hermione. If this Voldemort guy is as terrible as you say he is, then I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with scrounging up a few thousand enemies to turn into a small red power source.”

“I’m just suggesting it! Voldemort isn’t the one to let people live long enough to cultivate a few thousand. He usually just kills as he sees fit.” Hermione said, frustrated. 

Roy coughed, signaling the other’s attention, “Thank you both for coming with your respective questions. Elric, I’ll be free at another point to review your notes at a later date. You are both dismissed.” Ed was about to protest and stay in the room when he looked to where Roy faced and saw the Headmaster looking at them jovially.

“Good Afternoon Granger, Elric.” He greeted. 

Both replied with a “Good Afternoon, Professor Dumbledore.” Before heading out the door together. 

Ed was about to veer down a different hall than Hermione when she grabbed the sleeve of his robe. 

”Edward, come to the library with me for a second. Harry, Ron, and I have a very important offer to give you.”

Ed was confused, “What kind of offer?”

Hermione only replied with, “One you will want to hear out.” Before leading him to the right, through the window- lined corridor.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So, I definitely wrote this chapter quicker than the last one, hehehe...  
> I *gasp* actually planned ahead for the next few chapters, so posting should be quicker from now on. However, exams are coming, so the next one might be slowish. Thank you so much, to everyone who commented, liked, and followed my story! 
> 
> Also, I apologize if parts of this seem rushed, I kind of ran out of ways to end a few scenes, sorry!
> 
> Thank you all and enjoy!

Hermione situated herself next to Harry and Ron once she and Ed reached the library, so Ed had no other choice but to sit opposite them, as was the case with the tables in the cramped space.

Harry looked like he wanted to both be where he was and to be anywhere else, whereas Ron just looked like he didn't want to be there. If Ed were perfectly honest, the only one who looked even more than basically content was Hermione, who sat down confidently in her wooden chair.

When nobody made a move to initiate the conversation, Ed spoke up, "Let's make a deal. I'll hear your offer if you give me a bit of insight to a few things that have confused me- you know- for equivalence."

"Deal. But we'll give the offer first." Harry stated.

"Offer away." Ed said.

"Okay… Um, where should I start?" Harry said quickly before getting his thoughts together, "Well, I'm sure by now that you know pretty well who Volde–ok sorry Ron- He Who Must Not Be Named is?"

"Yeah pretty much." Ed confirmed.

"Well, Hermione, Ron, and I are partially involved in an- um- order that was established by a bunch of aurors-"

Ed interrupted Harry, "What's an auror?"

"Basically they're like detectives who hunt down dark wizards. Anyways, some of them, as well as other very talented witches and wizards, have established a group focused on the destruction of V- He Who Must Not Be Named. We- that is Ron, Hermione, and I- feel like the order would benefit from an alchemical point of view on You-Know-Who's and his followers', called Death Eaters, motives or plans."

"Very well put Harry." Hermione complimented.

"So this is a government organization?" Ed clarified.

"No, that's the reason we have the Order. The Ministry of Magic refuses to acknowledge that Voldemort is back, despite Harry's having seen him literally resurrect his body and kill people. They don't want people to be afraid, but in doing so, they've brought on a mass ignorance of danger, even going so far as to spew negative propaganda about Dumbledore's and Harry's knowledge on the Dark Lord's return. Why do you think they hired one of the Ministry cronies to teach us about defense? They don't want people to feel like they need to fight off danger. The Order was established to prepare for the inevitable- a war." Hermione explained.

"I see. But, totally just being the devil's advocate here, what makes you think that the dark wizards would want to use alchemy? From what I've heard the practice is 'impossible' on top of 'impure' and 'a muggle's excuse for magic'."

Hermione shrugged, "Well, he's been trying to get rid of Harry for the past five years only using magic and hasn't gotten very far. Plus, like I had said earlier, he was trying to get his hands on the Philosopher's stone, so he must at least believe that alchemical methods are useful to some degree."

Ed thought for a moment, "So you're saying his motive may hypothetically be more experimental, like he thinks there will be a greater chance of his success through harnessing a scientific approach than magical?"

"Kind of. Like I suggested earlier, alchemy could be more infused with magic with wizards than in Amestris, so You Know Who would see it as a foreign form of magic." Hermione said back.

Ed gestured at himself, "And you think my assistance in this 'order' can help figure out if he could be using alchemy to threaten witches and wizards." Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded.

Ed had to let their silence stretch for a few longer minutes to think about their proposal. In a way, their trust meant a lot to him, as he had only been acquainted with them for a month and a half.

However, Ed had to remind himself that he was here for reasons outside of wizard conflict. Getting involved in issues with another government would put stress both on their mission and on their hidden identities.

The alchemist took a breath before continuing, "I really, really appreciate that you want me in this group, but I'm not sure I can accept your offer."

Hermione looked surprised, like that was the answer she had not prepared to receive at all. "Why?"

Ed took another moment to think out a response, "Well, first of all, I'm not part of a wizarding community, and my involvement technically involves Amestris. We're a militaristic nation, even with our reforms, so we've become embroiled in various other territory disputes and wars. Believe me, a magic fight is that last thing the country needs on its mind.

"Secondly, while I'm open at any time to help out and tip you off on anything alchemical, this is a conflict I have very little insight into, and personally, I have other things I need to worry about."

Hermione contemplated what Ed had said before- albeit begrudgingly- said, "I understand, but please keep the offer in mind, we could really benefit with a new set of eyes. Now, I believe that you had a few questions for us as well in return?"

"Yes, they're kind of random and not related at all, and I guess most of my confusion comes from the relative culture shock of this magical world, but I do have a few questions." Ed answered, resting his hands on the table.

"That's fine, ask away." Ron assured before Ed began.

"Alright, firstly, there were those strange creatures that pulled our carriages to the school that only Harry, myself, and that Loopy Lovegood girl saw. Any knowledge as to what those are?" Ed chose his lightest question first.

"We're still as confused as you are," Harry answered, "For all I know, it was just some strange mass hallucination."

Ed quirked an eyebrow, "Are there other weird animals like that, that only some people can see?"

"There is an outrageous amount of magical creatures that many muggles- muggles being non-wizarding people- can't, or happen not to, see, but as far as I know, none that are invisible to a select few." Hermione said, "Believe me, I've done a lot of research. My parents are muggles, so when I first came to the school I was shocked by all of the common magic animals that many people don't know of. The same applies to Harry, I'd reckon."

Harry nodded his confirmation.

"Not Ron?" Ed asked.

"I grew up with wizards." Ron explained.

"I had no idea magic existed until this year, but my dad was an alchemist, and my brother and I learned from his books. I guess alchemy is like Amestrian magic, but it's not a secret from non-alchemists because anyone can learn it." Ed chimed in, relieved to be able to tell his friends a bit of truth about himself.

It honestly did get to Ed that these students were being so nice to him, yet he was completely unable to actually tell them about himself, it made him feel like a bad friend.

"Okay, next question. Are there any protective laws set around alchemy in the Ministry of Magic?" Ed changed the subject.

"Not that I know of, but that would probably be a better question for Professor Mustang; no doubt he's read up on the alchemical laws before being certified as a teacher." Hermione stated.

Ed snorted, "I'll bet you anything he didn't read up on shit before coming here." In his mind, Ed added probably sleeping at his desk or hounded with other work because of sleeping at his desk, bless that man.

Ron looked at Ed with a strange expression, "It's funny that you're pretty much the only person at this school that doesn't like Mustang, as you're both very interested and good at alchemy, from what Fred and George say."

Hermione rolled her eyes and added, "Ron's right- Professor Mustang is rather young and energetic in comparison to the other Hogwarts teachers, plus he teaches the material in his class excellently. It would appear that you and he should get along rather well, but you act particularly sarcastic and rude in regards to him."

Internally, Ed began to freak the fuck out, but remained calm exteriorly, a skill he didn't know he possessed until this assignment. He simply shrugged, keeping eye contact at a zero level, "He's annoying and takes every possible moment in class to poke fun at me." If his voice came out a bit shaky or high-pitched, the trio in front of his either chose to ignore it or didn't hear it.

There was a silence for a few minutes, as all four had run out of questions to ask.

Hermione pulled out some homework for alchemy and looked towards Ed, "Edward, if you wouldn't mind, I'm confused about a section of the alchemy homework Professor Mustang assigned, would you mind helping me out?" She asked.

Ed shrugged, "Sure. Do you two need help as well?" He asked Harry and Ron. They nodded vigorously, and the questioning turned into an afternoon study hall.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Roy and Dumbledore stood in a kind of stare-off, happy old eyes interlocked with a mildly confused obsidian one. Since his arrival into Roy's classroom, Albus had yet to say anything but a 'good morning'.

The old man slowly crossed the room to look out of Roy's window, which overlooked massive lake and fields of Scottish grass.

"Tell me, Mr. Mustang, does the view from an Amestrian military base compare to the valleys of Scotland?"

The question caught Roy completely off guard, and all he really had to respond with was a confused, "Excuse me?"

Dumbledore once more looked over at Roy with a cheerful look, "Well, I would assume that the leader of one country's military would have an office with a decent view."

"Well, both Central and its military headquarters don't pride themselves on the beautiful scenery, sir. Most offices just overlook the city." Roy answered once his nerves calmed down and he remembered that, while nobody else was, Dumbledore had been informed of his mission. "However, I doubt that's what you came all the way to my classroom to ask about."

Dumbledore chuckled and replied, "Correct assumption Mister Mustang. I rather wanted to know how your little investigation is going, being the nosy old man that I am."

"You have a right to know it, sir. We are, after all, invading the academic sanctuary that is school." Roy said in response. He pulled out the weird alchemy journal/ 'depraved piece of sin-garbage'. "By accident, Ms. Granger found a notebook containing notes on highly dangerous and illegal alchemy in the library. There are no records of this book ever being on file, so I am keeping it as a piece of probable evidence.  
"Also, it has been brought to my attention that we received no clear identity of the person who notified Central about the alchemical breach, so I am urged to take suspicion in that as well."

Dumbledore nodded and remained in thought for a moment, "After you are finished examining that notebook, I would like to confiscate it. If it would help your cause, I can send in a word to the Ministry to ask for a name, but they may not provide it for me. The ministry doesn't like me very much."

Roy nodded, "I would greatly appreciate any help you can give, sir, so long as it isn't at your own risk. Thank you."

"It would be wise for me to warn you, Mustang, that the ministry is working rather hard to keep certain news out of the public ear. If anyone comes asking, be careful with what you say." Dumbledore told Roy, his voice much sterner than before. "Good Day, and Good Luck."

"Good Day, sir." Roy replied as Dumbledore exited the room.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Trisha assumed that is must be her unique position of foreign transfer student that Malfoy was so strangely annoyed by, as she saw the blonde boy once again approach her. This was the second time that afternoon, and while she didn't usually talk to Draco, he had been rather persistent this week.

Of course, Trisha had secured a small group of friends, but they were mostly Hufflepuff. She didn't really know many of her fellow Slytherins that well.

In fact, Trisha was rather glad that she befriended people from another house quickly, because the Slytherins who only hung out with their housemates were quite often looked down upon by, well, the entire school.

"Mustang!" Draco's voice carried down the hall rather well as he approached Trisha.

"Why do you care so much about this, Malfoy?" Trisha groaned, "I already told you, you wouldn't know my parents so it's pointless to ask."

"Are they wizards?" Draco asked, seemingly not hearing what Trisha had just said.

"What? No. Amestrian wizards usually move out of Amestris to more magic-populated areas, or so I'm told. My parents are… scientists." Trisha explained. "Why does it matter?"

"My father wrote to me. He'd figured out that our daft Headmaster had let three of you into the school- he wanted to know if you had any reputable traits at all. Now I can write back with confidence that there is none." Draco explained, smirking rather self-righteously.

"Well… I can write back to my parents about how my classmates are annoying and nosy." Trisha shot back.

Malfoy snorted, "And what, they'll science my family to shame? I have one of the most influential, purely wizarding family in the magic world. What do you have? Some muggle scientists." Malfoy sneered, turning on his heel and passing a fuming Trisha.

Oh, she wished she could tell him who her parents really were. He'd be put right in his place. However, Trisha respected national secrecy more than she did personal uppage, so she turned on her heel as well and stalked towards the exit of the school.

Her Hufflepuff friends had gone back to their common room upon the request of their Head Boy, so Trisha left to her own devices for the time being.

As a matter of fact, she had written home, but to her Aunt and Uncle, not her parents (obviously). She was in the halls in order to find the closest exit for the owlery.

The exit was only a corridor away from where Malfoy had confronted her, so the find was rather quick.

She exited the building and made her way to the owlery in short time. However, this was the first time Trisha had delivered mail by owl, so the entire process was frustrating.

First off, the owls had been strangely spooked when she entered the stone building (she may have been too noisy). They all flew to the rafters, so it took a lot of patience to wait for the owls to merge back down. When they did, only one didn't fly away when she came forwards. She picked that one, but as she was tying the note to its foot it kept pecking her, which was very annoying.

In the end, Trisha did get the letter attached to the owl, and she watched it fly out of the bird poop-covered window and into the Scottish sky.  
___________________________________________________________________________________

One day later, in Amestris:

Al and Winry were sitting in their living room playing an intense game of chess whilst eating their dinner. Both had their opponents caught in a check, but each turn work in the other's favor. Essentially it was an endless race of kings, but neither gave in.

Winry had made her fifteenth 'check' move on Al when a tawny owl, of all animals, flew in through their window. It wasn't even dark out!

"What the hell?" Winry and Al screeched in unison, standing abruptly and knocking the chess game everywhere.

"Get the broom, Al!" Winry yelled, her husband more than willing to comply.

Brooms in hand, Al and Winry stood on one side of their blue couch, the owl perched next to the window on an old cedar chest, looking at them with its head quirked to the side. Still looking at the Elrics with its wide eyes, it shifted onto one leg, holding the other out towards them.

Al lowered his push broom slowly, "Win, it has paper on its foot."

Winry, noticing this, lowered her broom as well. "Strange."

The owl hopped off of the chest and, still on one leg, hopped onto the couch. It flew on to the couch (inciting a yelp from Al and a step back from Winry) and held the paper out to them, hooting. Al stepped forward and cautiously took the paper. The second the paper left its leg, the owl hooted again and flew out the window.

Al looked at the paper in his hand, recognizing it as an envelope.

"A letter?" Winry asked, "Do you know anybody with trained owl messengers?"

"If I did I would've told you already." Al answered. He opened the envelope and took out a folded sheet of parchment paper. He unfolded it and said, "It's from Trisha."

"Magic people must mail by owl. Seems pretty inconvenient if they can just magic the letters places." Winry commented.

"Yeah, that doesn't make much since." Al replied, "Here's what it says:

 

"Dear Aunt Winry and Uncle Al,

Sorry for not writing sooner! It's been strange adjusting to the new school, but it's pretty amazing so far. I've been assigned to a house (like classmate subgroup) with a lot of jerks, though. My friends are all in a different house, but they are really cool.

In the way of my parents, I think their identities are still secure. They haven't messed up from what I've seen, but I haven't really seen them very much. Dad is in a different grade and house than me, so I'm not in any classes or groups with him, and I only see Papa during class. He's a pretty good teacher, who would have thought?

I can't think of much else to say. What's up in Central? No drama with the head of our military taking a year-long break, I'd hope. How's Miss Hawkeye handling the position in Papa's place?

I miss you guys! Write back soon!

Love, Trisha."

 

Al put the note down. "It seems like they're doing ok so far."

Winry nodded, "I hope Ed hadn't busted his automail already. I bet he has."

"Have more faith in Brother, Win. Remember, he kept his automail pristine for three years once." Al said.

Winry laughed, "And when you returned, you were blown to scraps and Ed's arm was completely gone!"

Al laughed too, "In his defense, it wasn't Ed's fault we were blown to bits!"

"Pfft, yeah right." Winry said dismissively, smiling jokingly at her husband.

They both chuckled.

"We can write back to Trisha after another round of chess. You feel up to being defeated?" Al asked, setting their board back up.

Winry smirked, "You wish."

Al and Winry kneeled back on their living room floor and started a new game, eating their dinner that had gone forgotten.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay New chapter! As a general update on my progress, I would like to say that I plan to have another chapter up soon, but I cannot guarantee any specific time.
> 
> Read and enjoy!

Winter was showing its signs of arrival to Hogwarts. The autumn leaves were falling at an alarming rate and people were already making plans for their Christmas holidays (far too early, though, in Harry’s humble opinion), but most importantly, it was getting cold- very cold. Harry walked through the Forbidden Forest, both relishing in the calm of the forest and wishing it were still autumn.

He heard Luna Lovegood before he saw her in a clearing not too far from Hagrid’s hut. She stood barefoot amongst a group of the same skeleton-horses that Harry saw pulling the carriages. In the daylight, the skele-horses were a bit less ominous, even slightly majestic-looking, save the empty eye sockets. 

Without turning around to see him, Luna said, “Hello Harry,” In a slightly distracted voice.

Harry advanced towards her, too late to avoid her and continue on his walk, “Hi Luna. Aren’t your feet a bit cold?”

Luna shrugged slightly, petting the side of one of the skele-horses, “It’s not very bad. My shoes have all seemed to go missing, but I suspect they’ve been taken by the nargles. They’ll show up eventually.” She answered. 

Harry stood next to her, staring at the strange beast, “What exactly are those?” He asked the fourth-year. 

“They’re called thestrals. Most people can’t see them; it’s a pity.” Luna answered, taking some sort of meat from a burlap bag and tossing it to the thestrals.

“Why is that?”

“Only people who’ve seen death can see thestrals. That’s why a lot of wizards fear them, but they really aren’t harmful.” Luna said. 

“Oh,”

They stood in a silence for a few minutes, both just looking at the thestrals, Luna throwing various foods to them occasionally. She was the first to break the silence.  
“My father and I believe you, by the way- that You-Know-Who is back and that the Ministry is hiding it.” She said, looking up at Harry for the first time in their conversation. 

Harry looked sidelong at her, smiling a bit, “You’re about the only person to. The rest of the school- even the people I find as friends- think I’m some loon who is lying for attention.”

Luna shook her head, patting a baby thestral on the head, “I don’t think that’s true, Harry. I think that’s what your enemies want you to think- to isolate you from your friends. That way you don’t pose as much of a threat.”

Harry thought about that for a minute, the thought giving him some comfort and hope. 

A thestral jumped into the air, catching a piece of flying meat. As it hit the ground, a thought made it’s way into Harry’s head, “Edward saw them too- the thestrals.”

“The Amestrian boy?” Luna confirmed. 

Harry nodded, “I wonder who he’s seen die.”

“Quite a few people, I’d think.”

Harry raised his brows, “Why do you think that?”

Luna shrugged, “Oh, just the air about him. He’s at a good place now, but he seems like he has a tragic past.”

“Just out of curiosity, but who did you see die?” Harry asked, wondering briefly if it was an inappropriate question.

Luna simply looked at the thestrals, “My mother- I was very young. An experimental spell rebounded at her.”

Harry didn’t quite know how to respond, “I’m sorry.”

“Yes, It’s quite tragic. I often get sad bout it- she was a very lovely woman.”

“Hm.” Harry said in response. 

Harry and Luna remained silent as the thestrals roved around about them in the cold, late-fall air.   
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was about fifteen minutes later that Harry began to traverse back through the halls of Hogwarts. It was nearing lunchtime, so he decided to meet up with Hermione and Ron in the Great Hall instead of searching them out in the gigantic building. 

His conversation with Luna had brightened his spirits considerably, knowing that there was someone outside of Hermione and Ron that believed in him, even if it was a borderline-loony fourth-year. The halls slowly began to fill up with students as they left their common rooms and outside activities to eat lunch. Despite the crowd, Harry noticed Ron and Hermione easily, and made his way towards them. 

Hermione noticed him first, waving him over, “Harry! Where’ve you been all afternoon?”

Harry replied, “Just walking around the forest. Speaking of which, I’ve got something to tell you two at lunch.” He added, making his friends quirk their eyebrows curiously. “Where were you guys, by the way?”

Ron spoke up, nudging a first-year out of the way to keep up with his friends, “The library, what’s new. You wouldn’t guess who was also there.” His tone was extremely sarcastic, so Harry went with the obvious.

“Edward?” He asked.

Ron nodded, “and Mustang.”

“Professor or Slytherin?” 

Hermione answered, “The Slytherin one hangs out with that group of Hufflepuff sixth-years. I mean the Professor. They were having a really intense conversation over some old book in a corner of the library. They looked really frustrated, too. We wouldn’t have even noticed them had I not wanted a book from that section.”

Harry was surprised, “I thought Edward hated Professor Mustang.” He commented.

Ron shrugged, “So did we.”

“Did you get the book you wanted Hermione” Harry asked. 

Hermione shook her head vigorously, “No, They looked like they were in the right mind to murder anyone who wandered near their table.”

“Did you hear anything they said?” 

“Can’t speak Amestrian, or we would have.” Ron answered.

They reached the Great Hall, quickly finding the blonde in question already sitting at the Gryffindor table next to the Weasley twins, stabbing at his food angrily. They decided to sit with him.   
“Good Afternoon,” Hermione greeted Ed, who mumbled something back in what sounded like German. A few seconds later, when Ron rather loudly set his fork against his plate, he seemed to snap out of his frustrated reverie and noticed who was sitting around him. 

“Hi.” He said simply. 

Ron looked at his brothers, mouthing ‘What’s up with him?’. They shrugged.

Fred spoke up, “Eddie’s been upset since he got here. Didn’t even want to plot against Umbridge like we usually do.”

“Don’t call me that.” Was all Ed said, taking a rather violent stab at his food. 

Harry asked, “What’s the matter?”

Ed looked up at him briefly, “Can’t tell you. Alchemy stuff.”

Deciding to leave Ed alone, Hermione spoke up, “Harry, what was it you wanted to tell us once we got here?”

“Oh, I figured out what was pulling the carriage that not everyone could see.” He answered. The entire group, including Ed, perked up.

“What was it?” Hermione asked curiously.

“They’re called thestrals. Only people who’ve seen someone die can see them.” He answered. Ed stiffened, and the rest looked surprised.

“Wow, I’ve never heard of those before! Where did you learn that?” Hermione asked.

“I saw Luna Lovegood feeding them in the forest, so I asked her.” He answered. 

Hermione hummed, in thought. “I wonder where she learned about them.”

“It also explains why I couldn’t see them until this year.” Harry commented.  
The group turned silent, saddened by the memory of Cedric’s death. Ed still looked uncomfortable; his skin turned a few shades whiter than usual. 

“Harry, you saw someone die last year?” He asked.

Harry nodded, “A fellow student, Cedric Diggory. He-who-Must-not-be-named killed him.” 

“You’re handling yourself very well, I’m impressed. When my mom died, Al and I… we didn’t react very well at all.” Ed said, looking at his plate.

“You saw your mother die?” Hermione asked.

Ed nodded, “And my Dad. It was a long time ago, though. There’ve been more. Alchemy is dangerous, don’t be so surprised.” He said in regards to the group’s surprised expressions towards Ed’s openness. Since they had met the blonde, he had been rather closed off towards his life outside of school.  
Up until that point, all the trio had known was that Ed was Amestrian, an alchemist, and had a brother named Al.

“How many deaths have you witnessed that you can speak so casually of it?” Ron asked, astounded. 

Ed laughed ironically, “I mean, I could write a list, but it may take longer than is worth. Anyways, I’m glad you found out about the thestrals, Harry. That was really bugging me.” His dismissal of the topic, unlike past times, was understandable, so they picked up a conversation about classes and, of course, how to trick Umbridge.

Nobody commented on how Ed seemed to forget his original frustration, and now talked casually with the twins and Lee Jordan as lunch continued.

If anyone had cared to look up at the teachers’ table, they would have seen a certain Alchemy professor glancing sidelong at Ed periodically, both a worried and amused expression gracing his features.   
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Roy sat down to lunch in the Great Hall he couldn’t help the small sigh of frustration that passed his lips. This earned a curious glance from McGonagall, who sat directly to the right of him, but Roy couldn’t find it in him to care.

Completely Dry. Their case had gone just so completely dry; it was getting difficult to find anything new. 

He and Ed had made quick work of deciphering what they could of the text before handing the book over to Dumbledore, but even so all they got were completely random snippets of the same varying difficulty transmutation circles and algorithms. Their notes looked like excerpts from children’s books and professional-grade military documents and had no coherency. 

They would have to pull some incredibly out-of-box thinking to unscramble the journal. Roy was beginning to have doubt if the journal was actually a real lead or not- it just seemed too messy and incoherent. Of course, Ed had vehemently rejected the idea that they were on a false trail, as they had, in Ed words, “already spent three fucking weeks focusing on the damn shit pile”. 

Dumbledore had put in his word to the ministry, but they had yet to reply to him, and the elderly wizard had to tell Roy that the ministry might be unreliable in their investigation. 

Roy looked over at the Gryffindor table, almost instantly spotting Ed near to the teachers’ table end of their table, glaring at his plate and (rather violently) stabbing at his food. The Weasley twins sat beside him, their friend Lee Jordan on the opposite bench. 

Taking a sweeping glance over the rest of the Hall, Roy was surprised to find his daughter not sitting at her own house’s table, but chatting animatedly with some girls at the Hufflepuff table. Curious, Roy nudged McGonagall.

“Minerva, are students allowed to sit at other house tables?” He asked.

The emerald-clad woman looked towards where his attention was focused and nodded, “There aren’t any rules denying her right to sit at the Hufflepuff table. Most students, particularly the Slytherins, prefer to sit with their housemates. I’ve noticed that Ms. Lovegood tends to sit with Mr. Potter and his friends at times.”

Roy nodded in understanding. 

McGonagall eyed Roy curiously, “Speaking of Miss Mustang, would you two happen to be related at all?”

Internally, Roy flinched, “Um, no. It’s a common last name in Amestris.”

McGonagall nodded, “On a different note, I hear that you give quite a lot of slack to Mr. Elric in class concerning his participation and work.”

Roy nodded, “To be frank, he knows more about alchemy than I do and he helps out other students outside of class. I typically just give him something or another to research and turn in when his classmates have assessments; I fear that otherwise he would become a distraction to his classmates while I’m teaching.”

Minerva didn’t look particularly surprised, maybe more amused, “I see. He seems not to even believe in magic, yet anything I assign to him he does rather well at. He’s definitely a curious boy.”

Roy nodded, looking over to the alchemist in question. Potter, Granger, and the youngest Weasley boy now also sat with Ed, who was still stabbing at his food. As Roy watched, Ed looked up at Potter very suddenly, face going a bit white. 

Roy was a bit concerned by the expression on Ed’s face, but he was grateful that Ed wasn’t sulking anymore. Roy himself had been so distracted at the beginning of his meal that he kept missing the food on his plate with his fork, like he had done a lot when he was first getting used to having stunted depth perception because of his missing eye. 

The largest problem he and Ed faced in their investigation, besides not having any solid leads, was the lack of privacy to actually research and investigate. Roy had figured out pretty early on that his fellow teachers felt no qualms in popping into other teachers’ classes periodically throughout the day, something Roy wasn’t used to as a military officer. At HQ in Amestris, militants only ventured into the Fürher’s office if they had a strictly scheduled meeting. Roy liked the causality of Hogwarts’ teachers, but it did cause problems with privacy whilst talking to Ed. 

They had met at the library earlier that day which, while less teacher-populated, was far too open of an area than desired. What they really needed for this investigation was somewhere that they definitely could not get caught in, which was proving a daunting task. Hell, if not people, the damn paintings could easily report ‘suspicious behavior’ to one of the teachers. And it’s not like Roy could simply ask one of the faculty members if there was a place nobody could find him if he didn’t want to be seen without drawing major suspicion. 

‘For now’ Roy thought with an internal sigh, ‘All we can do is be discreet and hope for the best.’

It wasn’t three days later that the investigation became much more complicated.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a mid-morning Wednesday. In Draco’s eyes, the worst time of the day, as it wasn’t quite lunch, but breakfast had already worn off. It didn’t help at all that this day’s mid-morning revolved around his Alchemy class. 

Naturally, he sat at the front of the class with Crabbe and Goyle. The Mustang girl sat at the table beside him in between two Hufflepuffs, which Malfoy could honestly say was much less than satisfactory for his nerves. He couldn’t explain why he didn’t like Trisha Mustang if he tried; it was just something about her that ticked him off. 

Secretly, Draco greatly enjoyed Alchemy. Professor Mustang explained the subject rather well to those who listened (and didn’t just goggle at him or make up rumors as to why he’s only got one eye). He had a very practiced patience that was rare for the Hogwarts teachers around his age. He wasn’t young, per se, but he wasn’t ancient like a lot of the professors, and it showed. He brought a strange, wholesome energy to his class that kept a lot of students engaged in the activities or lectures. 

Of course, Draco could never admit this, as it would make his father particularly anger that his son was so invested in a ‘muggle subject’ such as Alchemy. What Draco didn’t like about the class wasn’t the teacher or the subject, but rather his need to act, during the class, like he was above learning the science. This, of course, cost a lot of energy, as he would often catch himself growing outwardly invested in the lecture and coming very near to raptly participating in the class, and he would have to once again become the scoffing Slytherin he had to be. 

So, needless to say, that mid-morning class went as excruciating as the pervious ones, particularly so when Professor Mustang promised that he would be starting them in basic transmutations the next week. 

When their class was dismissed, Malfoy was surprised to hear his professor call his name to stay behind in the class. His friends nudged him jokingly as they made their way to lunch, promising to save food for him as Draco stayed seated until the room was empty. 

Mustang stayed in thought for a moment before he addressed Draco, “Mr. Malfoy, I understand that you have a reputation to look down on non-purely magical ideas and subjects, and that you are part of a family where that identity is important.”

Confused, Draco nodded slowly.

Mustang picked up a small stack of papers, “Be that as it may, I do not think your family’s reputation should deter you from following subjects that suit your interests, are you with me so far?”  
“Not quite, sir.” Draco replied truthfully.

The Professor sighed, “I can tell that you have a vested interest in alchemy, Mr. Malfoy. I can also tell that you put up a very convincing front in class to make it appear not so, despite your exceptional scores and complete understanding of the material.”

Malfoy could feel his eyes widen, and he knew by the look on Mustang’s face that he knew that he was right. The dark haired man continued, “I simply want to express to you that, even though it may seem so, not everybody expects one image of you, and if you wish to pursue alchemy as an interest you are encouraged to do so. I have compiled some- extra work- if you will, that is more light research than anything else and is completely doable. I’m offering it to students that I have noticed an interest for alchemy in.” 

He laid a few sheets of parchment on Draco’s desk. “I can tell that you already understand the material that I’m teaching in class. I want you to be more challenged in the field, so I am giving you this assignment as an alternate to the homework I gave out in class.”

Draco nodded quickly, putting the paper in his bag. “Thank you, sir.” He may have sounded more genuine than he wanted to, for Mustang’s expression was rather pleased. 

He turned from Malfoy, “That is all, you may go to lunch.”

“Yes sir.” Malfoy said, leaving the room in a hurry. 

He never did make it to lunch though. When he neared the Great Hall, there was a commotion on the staircase. 

He was surprised to find Umbridge and McGonagall trying very hard to be civilized whilst arguing on the staircase. 

McGonagall uttered something at Umbridge about her ‘Medieval methods,’ to which Umbridge responded that the methods were approved by the ministry and McGonagall was being disloyal to the government. Draco didn’t like the transfiguration teacher, but he would never- ever- accuse her of being a disloyal woman. It seemed a very uncalled for stretch. 

The worst part of the scene, however, was when Umbridge decided that she would have to take Ministry Measures to fix the climate of the school, which she explained to their audience with a giggle and saccharine severity. Her tone, honestly, scared Draco.

Sure, he sided with the ministry- his father worked there. However, he feared what it would do to the school he (secretly) considered a sort of haven from stress of his family. 

With his new alchemy homework in his bag and a sinking feeling in his chest, Draco Malfoy, for the first time, slightly doubted where his loyalties really lay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad end of the chapter, I know! Good news though, I have the next two chapters planned out, so (with a minimal struggle) I should be able to lay out the story more coherently from now on.
> 
> I intended to have more Amestrians in his chapter, but id ended up very Hogwarts native- centric, so that goes to show how concrete my planning ahead is.
> 
> R&R!


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ginormous thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and left kudos on my work, I'm so honored!!   
> So, without further ado... onward to Chapter Seven!

As far as Ed knew, High Inquisitor wasn’t an actual position one could have at a school. He was pretty sure Umbridge was able to schmooze up to the Ministry enough to give the title to her (not like they were unwilling to do so in the first place). 

What Ed did know about the new position, however, was that he and Roy now, officially, had less privacy than previously, which was really saying something. At least before Um-bitch had overturned the damn school nobody was nosing around in Roy’s business like their livelihood depended on it. 

Ed could see the clear looks of frustration in the face of the teachers as Umbridge, in her rosy armor, would waltz into their room, brandishing her clipboard like a sword, and interrupt their classes with unrelated questions or simply look into the class noisily. Even the typically expressionless Professor Snape seemed near to snapping at the horrid woman on the particular day Ed was in the same period as Umbridge’s ‘inquisition’ of the Potions class. 

What’s worse, he couldn’t even vent his frustration to Roy, because Umbridge would likely barge into the classroom mid-rant. She was particularly fond of questioning Roy, supposedly because she was trying to find a single slip-up to have alchemy eradicated from the school. However, Roy was a military man and a politician- a combination that resulted in a sharp skill of keeping a good profile under even the most scrutinizing of glances. Ed was confident that Umbridge would end up much more disgruntled than Roy in that regard. 

It was a Saturday, and Saturday meant Hogsmeade (the one privilege not yet taken away). This Saturday was different than most Saturdays, however. That morning at breakfast, Hermione had told Ed to meet she and ‘some others’ at a craggy old pub called the ‘Hog’s Head’. Much unlike Hermione, her voice had sounded very conspiratory, which instantly intrigued Ed. 

It was snowing lightly, but it had been pretty heavy over the night- there was a thick blanket over most of the little town when Ed had arrived. He shivered, his automail growing steadily colder to the touch under his coat. He reached the Hog’s Head, seeing the Weasley twins enter just before him. 

The pub- shack more like- was very run down and incredibly cold, and there was a group of roughly fifteen students (mostly Gryffindor) huddled in one corner. The only people missing were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nobody had bothered to take their coats off because of the temperature. Ed chose a place beside one of the twins (he was almost certain Fred), both of whom greeted him in unison. 

“Oi Ed, didn’t think you’d be here. George and I would’ve waited for you.” Fred said. 

“Hermione told me to come. Any idea what we’re here for?” Ed asked, shifting his automail shoulder in discomfort with the cold port.

“We think it’s something to do with Toady.” George responded, eyeing Ed’s constant shoulder discomfort warily, “You okay there?”

Ed grimaced, “Yeah, my shoulder’s messed up and cold weather doesn’t help.” Technically, it wasn’t untrue.

Snow fluttered into the building as the door opened once again, revealing the trio everyone awaited.

Harry looked disgruntled, but Ron and Hermione walked to the front of the group with purpose. 

The other students went quiet as Ron and Harry stood back, allowing Hermione room to address the audience. “Hello.” She began, addressing the blank faces of her classmates. “We’re here today to address an issue that had recently arisen at our school- the incompetence of our defense teacher.” 

A few kids sniggered and nodded. Hermione continued to say basically that the situation had become out of hand, and that they needed a proper teacher. At this point, she grabbed Harry and nearly shoved him forward. Harry, in a sudden loss of confidence, desperately tried to convince Hermione that she was wrong and that his past successes were innately made by accident and with help.

It wasn’t until Luna brought up that Harry could produce a patronus (Ed didn’t know what that was, apparently it was impressive) that the audience gained interest.   
Harry, growing tired of the conversation going nowhere, spoke up through their murmurs, “Learning in a classroom holds nothing to actually being in the situation. To stand by and see your friends die… That’s not something you can prepare for by opening a book. We need to learn properly how to deal with danger, and we can’t do that with Umbridge.” 

Ed was really impressed with Harry, really. What he’d said rang very true with Ed as an alchemist, and the criticality of the situation proved to resonate with the other students as well. 

Ed tagged along behind Harry and his friends as they made their way back towards the school.

“Okay, so we have a secret class, but where can we teach it?” Harry asked. “We can’t afford to get caught by Umbridge.”

Hermione shook her head, “I don’t know, but there has to be somewhere we can all meet up. The school’s huge.”

They thought in silence. 

It was two days before Neville found the Room of Requirements.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group of new DA members stood behind Neville as the teen paced nervously back and forth in front of a blank wall. 

Slowly, a large oak door formed in place of old stone. Everyone let out impressed gasps, and Neville smiled at the door triumphantly. 

“Malfoy was being a twat in my free period the other day, and I wanted a place to get away from him. As I was walking by, this door just showed up. Think it’ll do?” 

Harry nodded, “I think this is perfect, Neville. C’mon, let’s not waste valuable time.” The group quickly filed into the room. Ed noted that the room seemed already set up for them to practice spells and combat, as there were fight dummies and plentiful open space.

“So the room changes to fit anyone’s individual need?” Ed asked.

Hermione nodded, “That’s why it’s called the Room of Requirements.” 

“Makes sense.” Ed turned to Neville, “What exactly did you think?”

Neville shrugged, “That I need a place to train in secret.”

Ed hummed to show his acknowledgment and turned to Harry, who was calling for attention.

The bespectacled boy put his hands behind his back, beginning to pace in front of the group with purpose, “Alright. If we’re going to train to the best of out abilities, we should start as soon as possible. With that said, I think we should begin with basic defensive spells.” The group nodded.

And so, the first meeting of the Dumbledore’s Army commenced without a hitch. 

Ed, naturally, got the hang of the spells quickly, but he lacked the ease with which the others could execute them. After all, this was his first year exposed to wizardry. 

At the end of the lesson, Ed straggled behind the group leaving the room, as he wanted to bring up an idea with his new ‘teacher’. He fell in step with Harry, who looked sidelong at Ed curiously. The alchemist rolled his automail shoulder out slightly before talking, “I have an idea.”

Harry quirked an eyebrow, unaccustomed to the older student directly pitching ideas to him, “What’ve you got?”

“There’s a saying that my alchemy teacher- not Mustang, my teacher at home- engrained into my mind. ‘In order to train your mind, you must also train the body’. Essentially, to master reflex skills and mental preparedness for combat, one should keep their physical health in good condition. You should consider adding physical combat to the repertoire, as we’ll never know when we could end up without a wand.”

Harry thought about the notion for a minute, not moving. “I can’t fight well enough to teach it.”

Ed gestured towards himself, “I could. Before coming here, I sparred with Al or Ro- um, a friend, nearly every week. You don’t need to master the skill to disarm someone or fight back enough to get out of a tough situation.”

“You’d do that?” Harry asked. Ed had yet to show any devotion to contributing to the wizarding community at all. His desire to so suddenly surprised Harry. 

Ed nodded, “Of course. I hate the lack of decent teaching Umbridge is providing us as much as any of you. I’ll help to the most of my capabilities.”

Harry smiled at the blonde, “Then consider yourself our combat teacher. You can have the next meeting to teach any basics before we get seriously into the complex spells.”  
Ed grinned, “I won’t let you down.” And he knew, deep down, that he would try his hardest not to.

All during the rest of the day, and into the night, Ed had rolled his new position in the DA around in his mind. He was excited, but also unsure of how reliable of a teacher he’d be able to be. While he stood behind and supported anyone who wanted to challenge Umbridge, he wasn’t sure if his patience would hold up training people in combat. Also, Ed was nervous if he would accidentally give his undercover position away at any point by putting himself in high attention.

With that said, the Room of Requirements had Ed thinking. If Harry could secretly teach a huge group of students defensive spells there, what was holding he and Roy back from privately researching and talking there? They could find a day where the DA wasn’t meeting and work. Nobody would be the wiser. 

While this wasn’t a lead on his investigation, Ed accepted this new development as an opportunity to create new leads, which was in and of itself a splash of rain in their dry spell of information. What’s more, he had Alchemy first period, so he could find a way to relay his news to Roy before the rest of the class got in. 

Currently, Ed was making his way towards the classroom in question, feeling uncharacteristically optimistic about the day. When he reached the classroom, he found most of the students already there (students looked forward to Roy's class), and Roy’s slumped form on his desk did a lot to lessen Ed’s earlier optimism. Many of the other seventh years were sitting in their usual places, looking at Roy confusedly and talking to one another. Ed placed his bag down in his chair between the Weasley twins. 

“What’s going on?” Ed asked, although he probably knew better than most what exactly was going on. 

Fred replied, “We came into the room a few minutes ago, and the professor hasn’t moved much from his desk. He may just be sleeping.”

Ed hoped his worry didn’t show to strong on his face, “I think it’s more than that.” 

He shushed the class and walked up to Roy’s desk, noticing how Roy’s posture stiffened at the sound of his footsteps. His face was in his hands, and because of his close proximity, Ed could see Roy shaking. 

He sighed. Roy was experiencing a minor episode of post-trauma and there was nothing really for Ed to do, given his audience. The rest of the class watched him curiously, wondering what he could be up to. 

Slowly, Ed placed his flesh hand on Roy’s shoulder. The older man nearly jumped out of his seat at the contact, surprised, spinning his head around to meet Ed’s gaze. The class jumped a bit at Roy’s sudden reaction, but Ed tried his best to not act startled.

Roy’s eye seemed distant, and Ed could tell that his husband hadn’t slept that night. It nearly tore his heart in two to see the obvious suffering on the man’s face, and still have to refrain himself from comforting the man too excessively. 

In Amestrian, Ed asked, “The war or the snow?” Sometimes the winter months triggered Roy’s mind to go back to the years where Ed had been absent from this world, but it was always a possibility that Ishval had invaded his dreams. It wasn’t uncommon. 

Roy’s eye seemed to focus a fraction as he recognized the face and voice in front of him, “…War.”

Ed turned to the still silent class, “One of you, get Madame Pomfrey.” 

A lanky brunette Slytherin in the back of the class nodded her head and ran out the door. 

Roy shook his head, “-Don’t need her.”

Ed pushed Roy down as he tried to get up, “You’re in no state to teach right now. Pomfrey will help you.”

“But who will-“

“I can teach the class in your place for today, just don’t strain yourself.” Ed insisted.

Roy looked up at him doubtfully and opened his mouth to retort, but Ed used his automail hand to cover his mouth and speak over him. 

“I swear, Roy, don’t challenge me on this. The hospital wing isn’t very far away, I can drag you there myself if you won’t comply. Then you’d have some physical injuries to heal, too.”

Only when Mustang looked like he’d resigned to Ed’s insistence did the blonde pull his hand away from Roy’s mouth. He was certain that the class was sending him strange looks, but at the moment he didn’t really care, as he was more concerned about Roy’s refusal of help.

At that moment, the lanky girl returned with a disgruntled Madame Pomfrey in her wake. When the old nurse came into the room, she didn’t look very sure of the problem.   
“Madame Pomfrey.” Ed greeted.

“What’s the problem? Is it Mustang?” She asked, walking towards him. 

Ed nodded, “Suffering from a post-traumatic episode, I think. Whatever it is, he’s unable to teach us at the moment. I can cover for this class, but a substitute may have to come in for the later classes.”

Pomfrey thought for a moment before nodding, “I’ll lead him out, don’t bother following us.” Ed gave Roy’s shoulder a squeeze before he stepped aside to allow the nurse to grab Roy by the arm and bring him away. Ed knew that his worry was evident on his face, and the class sat in silence for a good few seconds before anyone spoke up. 

It was a dark-haired Gryffindor who spoke first, “What do we do now?”

Before anyone else could cause a racket of noise, Ed spoke, “I’ll teach you guys a bit.” 

The class was silent again. Taking their silence as a welcome to continue, Ed walked to the chalkboard. “In light of the situation, I think it would be wise for me to address the dangers of alchemy.”

A student spoke up, “How is that related to what just happened?”

“Excellent question. Judging by his approximate age, I’d guess that Mustang was enlisted in a civil war back in Amestris. Long story short, they hired alchemists into the military to demolish the other side, with great success. However, I have yet to meet a living alchemist veteran of that war who doesn’t suffer from some form of mental or physical trauma, some of it much worse than what you just saw.”

Ed picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the board in large words, ‘Alchemy, when used for destruction, not only demolishes lives and livelihoods, but corrupts the alchemist.’'

“Keep in mind, as well, that most of those alchemists were working under command, and were more or less forced with their lives or careers to kill so many people. Any questions?”

One Slytherin spoke up, “Isn’t that just with everything in war?”

Ed replied, “Of course, but I’m saying that alchemy is just as dangerous a weapon as a machine gun, or- in this case- magic. There is a more direct danger in alchemy as well.”

On the board, Ed wrote in capital letters, ‘HUMAN ALCHEMY’. Under that word in bullet points, he wrote ‘-resurrection’, ‘-bonding souls’, and ‘-anything else where you’re trading life’.

Ed pointed at the board, “Human life, or transmuting people, is highly illegal, as you not only run the risk of murdering the subject, but also making yourself disappear off the face of the universe. I know Mustang talked about this a bit when we were studying ‘understanding’, but you need to understand the gravity of the risk taken in a human transmutation.

“Almost nobody has successfully transmuted life, and even the successful ones came at a huge cost. Not even the most seasoned of alchemists attempt this kind of transmutation, because seasoned alchemists know the risks.” 

One of the students raised her hand, “If nobody ever tries it, how can you know it’s one hundred percent deadly?”

Ed looked at her sidelong, “Devil’s advocate, huh? I just said people have pulled off transmuting life successfully, but it came a huge cost to themselves.”  
Another kid spoke up, “Do you have any specific examples?” The class rumbled in curiosity. 

Ed was silent for a minute as he seriously debated with himself whether he should just rip off his jacket sleeve and leave it at that, but decided against it. “I’m sure you can research that on your own time if you’re that curious. As far as I care, this class is over.”

The class immediately stood to leave the room, and Ed made a beeline for the door to make his way to the Hospital Wing, working fast to evade Fred and George in case they had decided to tag along. 

He made it up the stairs and across the hallway to the Hospital Wing without anyone following him, so he slowed down his pace as he entered the large room. He hadn’t actually been in the hospital wing yet, which he considered a good thing. 

There were two enormous rows of old-fashioned beds, all of which were made up with the same off-white bedding. One such bed was bordered off with a roll-in curtain, so Ed assumed Roy was there. Before he could make his way to the area, though, Madame Pomfrey bustled out of a door towards him. 

“What’s wrong, dear?” She asked, assuming he was hurt.

Ed shook his head, “I’m okay, but the class was worried about Professor Mustang.”

“You did the right thing in bringing me there, and I can assure you he’s fine, just needs some time alone. Go along now and tell your friends.” She shooed Ed away, the blonde forcing back a protest. He really just wanted to talk to Roy himself, but the possibility of him doing that seemed very small at the moment. 

“Yes Ma’am, thank you.” He said instead, sulking back to the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was later in the day, after lunch, that Hermione had her alchemy class. She was rather surprised to find Professor Binns in Mustang’s place. The ghost explained that ‘their usual professor’ was under the weather, and they would, therefore, have a study hall during their usual alchemy class time. 

After that class, which was as boring as one would guess, Hermione had a free period, which she used to go to her favorite spot in the library and do her ‘out-of-class’ research. 

This, of course, was trying to find out anything she could about Edward Elric. Now, Hermione liked Ed a lot, he was witty and really smart. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a lot more to him that they weren’t being told. Why she thought that the library would have information on him, she didn’t know. Call it “witch’s intuition”.

Harry and Ron had refused to help her that particular day in favor of quiddich with Dean and Seamus. Hermione rolled her eyes at the thought, unable to see the intrigue that the sport held. 

‘Elric’. 

The name seemed too familiar, like she had heard it in a book or in a lesson before. If only she could put her finger on the name…

She figured that any ‘Elric’ of significance would be tied to alchemy, as Edward seemed extremely comfortable with the science. She figured with his age, he would have had to be trained since he was very young to be so good at it, so alchemy could very well be a family practice. 

With this in mind, Hermione began her search for a book she hadn’t bothered to look for in years: The book she’d found Nicholas Flamel’s tie to the Philosopher’s Stone in when she and her friends were in their first year. 

It was a book about general magic history, more focused on the art itself than the people capable of it, so there were fewer mentions of war, more just the evolution of magic and those responsible for its understanding. 

She found the book in a large, dusty corner of the library. Afternoon light created a ray of sun that pooled around that corner’s table. She pulled the large book off of the shelf, remembering her ‘light reading’ as a first year. She sat with her back to the sunlight as she unceremoniously dropped the book onto the dark wood of the table. 

She quickly leafed through the pages, skimming each paragraph and section until she found the section on alchemy.   
Reading carefully, Hermione was close to the middle of a rather long paragraph before she found the Elric that she was looking for. 

Her eyes instantly snapped to the name “Hohenheim Elric”, who had apparently created a philosopher’s stone strong enough to allow him to switch bodies for a few hundred years. 

Was this man related to Edward? And if so, Hermione thought, could his impressive caliber of alchemic skills be somehow linked with Ed’s talents?  
Just how much was her foreign friend hiding?

Hermione closed the book, ready to ask Edward if he knew of this ‘Hohenheim’. Whether or not Ed was willing to divulge, Hermione was going to get her answers, by drastic means of it was necessary.

Now her only priority was to find Harry and Ron, as not to leave them out on the fun. 

With this goal in mind, Hermione stood and strode out of the library with revived vigor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter! Don't forget to write me a review, I love to know what you guys thought of my work, be it good or bad!


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